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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139446">Birds of a Feather</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbyssalGuardian/pseuds/AbyssalGuardian'>AbyssalGuardian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien salt, Don’t Like Don’t Read, Lila salt, MariBat, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:00:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbyssalGuardian/pseuds/AbyssalGuardian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette’s parents sent her off with Gina when she was young so they could focus on the bakery, which resulted in Mari becoming a member of Haly’s Circus. She and Dick are practically inseparable while she’s there, but good things can’t last forever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Dick Grayson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>733</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1233</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Maribat, VioletZap's all-time favorite stories</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First chapter of the new story! And it’s here a day sooner than I expected, which is great.</p><p>I know it’s not Timinette like my other stuff, but I hope you like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Marinette was four years old she was sent off to travel with her nonna Gina. While her parents had been really excited to have a child, they’d quickly begun feeling the strain of raising a child and tending a bakery at the same time. </p><p>Marinette often spent all her time alone, barely supervised as her parents worked tirelessly down in the bakery. The only things she had to keep her company were books, fabric, needles, and thread. As a result, she had better language skills than most children her age, able to read both English and French exceptionally well. Her time unsupervised she used to experiment with making her own clothes.</p><p>The only problem was that her parents didn’t have the energy to properly keep track of her, so they ended up asking Gina to take care of her for a while. Which is how four year old Marinette ended up at Haly’s Traveling Circus, staring up in awe as a boy that seemed only a little older than her flew threw the air with his parents. He looked so happy and free that Mari couldn’t help but wish she could experience the same thing.</p><p>Little did she know at the time, she’d get her wish. Gina was friends with Haly, and had thought that living with the circus would be a good way for her precious little Marinetta to use up her boundless energy. As soon as the show was over Gina ushered Marinette into the back do they could meet the performers, making a beeline for her good friend Haly as Marinette stared around in awe at all the performers. Many of them stopped to smile and wave at her, a few cooing about how adorable she was before rushing off to finish changing.</p><p>Marinette was barely listening to her nonna’s conversation when she caught sight of him, the flying boy. His eyes locked on hers and she saw that they were a brilliant blue, full of light and laughter. They were her new favorite shade of blue. He seemed as entranced by her as she was by him, keeping his gaze locked firmly with hers until his father gave him a little push in her direction. That little push was all he needed to approach her.</p><p>When he was standing right in front of her, he hesitated, so Mari kicked off the introductions. “Hello. My name is Marinette.” Her voice was soft, and she smiled up at him with wide blue eyes as he smiled back.</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you Marinette! My name is Richard, but everybody calls me Dick.”</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you Dick, you did a lovely job in your show. You guys looked <em>amazing</em> as you flew through the air!” Her expression became a little wistful as she tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “I wish I could fly like that...”</p><p>“And you might get to my precious Marinetta!” Gina’s sudden announcement startled both kids, making them jump a little as Haly and the Graysons wandered over after a short conversation. “I talked to my good friend Haly here and he’s agreed to let us travel with his circus for a while! The only one here close to your age is the little Grayson boy, who’s a year older than you, and since you were so entranced by their performance they’ve agreed to train you!”</p><p>“Really?” Mari and Dick asked at the same time, staring up at the adults with wide, hopeful eyes.</p><p>They received nods from all the adults before the Grayson’s pulled Dick away with them so they could get changed, Haly leading Gina and Mari towards the trailer they’d be allowed to use for the duration of their stay with the circus. Both of the children kept glancing back as they were led away, eager to be able to play and train together. Though they’d only just met, they felt a strong connection between them, and they couldn’t wait to fly together.</p><p>Marinette began training with the Grayson’s the next day, and while it was difficult at first, she knew that the payoff would be worth it. She spent almost all her time with Dick when she could, and it became normal for them to be seen together. They were together so often that it was considered strange to see one without the other, and whatever they did, they did it together. Partners in crime.</p><p>After almost a year of constant training with the Graysons, Mari was finally allowed to join their act on the trapeze. Dick and Mari were really excited about it, the both of them practically bouncing in place as they heard the good news. Mari had been participating in the circus still, though more as a helper than anything else so she was excited to be part of an act.</p><p>Before they knew it, it was time for Mari’s first performance with the Graysons. She had been really nervous, but once she was up on he platforms, Dick smiling at her encouragingly everything fell into place. Mari performed amazingly with the Graysons, and after that first performance she became a regular part of the show. She even received some additional lessons on the tightrope, and would perform on that occasionally.</p><p>While she was an amazing performer on her own, she really shone when she performed with Dick. They brought out the best in each other, and those around the circus had begun jokingly referring to them as each other’s other half. They had no idea how accurate that was.</p><p>When Mari turned six, she and Dick were given their own segment in the show, and they received their own stage-names: Bluebird and Cardinal. The two performed really well together, and soon their act was infamous among the circus community. They would perform both as members of the Flying Graysons <em>and</em> as the Birds.</p><p>Mari absolutely loved being part of the circus with Dick. Sometimes her nonna would leave for long periods of time, reappearing sporadically to check in on Mari, but Mari was okay with it. As long as she had Dick by her side, she wasn’t lonely as she had been when she was with her parents. He was the only friend she’d ever made, and the best one she could ever want. They did just about everything together, and they had an intrinsic understanding of how the other thought and felt.</p><p>Whenever they were away from one another for some reason or another, they always felt like something was missing, and they were often antsy, longing to be reunited. While the other members of the circus found it a bit odd, they also thought it was cute. Dick’s parents were especially happy that Dick had made such a good friend close to his age, and often found themselves surprised with how... <em>domestic</em> they were, for being so young. Visitors to the circus would often comment over how it seemed a bit odd for the two to be so close, but since the circus-folk were used to seeing them as such, they never questioned it.</p><p>The reason the visitors commented was due to their close physical proximity. The two were almost constantly in contact with each other, whether it be through handholding, hugs, <em>side</em> hugs, arms thrown around each other’s shoulders, or Mari sitting in Dick’s lap. And that’s just what the <em>visitors</em> saw. </p><p>Normally children their age would shout ‘cooties’ and flee before being caught dead holding hands with someone of the opposite gender. But Dick and Mari weren’t normal. Mari, with her strangely mature and knowledgeable countenance, couldn’t care less for the social norms of children having rarely been around others of her age. Dick, who had grown up in the circus, had nothing to compare the experience to and hadn’t really interacted with other kids. Add to that how both children were advanced for their age, and their physical abilities from constant training, neither child could be referred to as normal from a standard point of view.</p><p>Not that anyone cared. To the people that mattered they were just Dick and Mari, the Birds of the circus.</p><p>Marinette had been with the circus for close to four years when she began to feel like something bad was going to happen. She would wake from nightmares she could never remember, worrying Dick, who often snuck into her trailer so they could sleep together when her nonna was away.</p><p>The only thing she could remember from the nightmares was how she was separated from Dick. In an attempt to prevent what she saw as an inevitability, Mari took up magic in secret. Nobody knew she was learning, not even Dick. She didn’t want to worry him even more than he already was, so when she managed to link two journals together with a spell, allowing what was written in one to be seen in the other, she told him that she’d found them in a mystic shop in her area.</p><p>He was obviously a little suspicious given how the journals were customized. They were made of a nice supple black leather, each one with a belt to keep it closed. The paper inside was a good thickness, and each one had a ribbon, Dick’s had a red one while Mari’s had a blue one. Mari had also hand-painted their birds onto the leather of each one, nestled together on a lone branch.</p><p>“I painted them for us after I got them,” she explained. “Check it out! They’re connected!” Mari opened her journal and scribbled in it for a second before motioning for Dick to open his. </p><p>Upon opening it, he saw the word ‘see?’ written in Mari’s handwriting. “Whoa! Let me try!” He took the red pen Mari offered him and wrote in his book, closing it once he was finished before noticing something. “Wait, did the bluebird on your journal just light up?”</p><p>“Yeah! I brought them back to the place I got them after I painted them and asked if they could make that happen so we would know when we had a message. I <em>also</em> made sure that our messages would erase themselves after they were read. For extra security.”</p><p>He looked up at her in surprise. “You think of just about everything.”</p><p>“Of course! One of has to!” Se nudged him with her shoulder as she gave him a playful wink.</p><p>He rolled his eyes at her, nudging her back as they were called in for practice by his parents. Mari was just glad that he’d accepted her explanation and seemed to like the journals that she got and enchanted for them. Especially since the journals became something they used regularly. It helped ease her fears a little, knowing she’d still have a way to contact him should they be separated.</p><p>She’d shown Dick the journals shortly before her birthday, and when nothing happened directly after that, she thought her fears unfounded. Only she kept having the nightmares, and they were getting worse. Her nonna hadn’t been back in almost six months, so she often shared her bed with Dick, as they usually did when her nonna was gone. He was really worried about her, but since they didn’t know <em>why</em> she was having the nightmares, they tried to ignore them. Dick always did his best to comfort her and remind her that he wouldn’t leave her willingly.</p><p>Convinced that she was just paranoid, Mari did her best to get over her fear. And everything was fine until a few months after her eighth birthday, when Mari’s fear was finally realized.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the first chapter! Let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nobody was expecting anything to happen when they set up their circus just outside of Paris. They expected it to be the same routine as always. What they conveniently forgot, however, was the fact that Mari was from Paris. Which meant that her parents lived in Paris.</p>
<p>Everything went according to plan until the last day of their show. Nobody knew it at the time, but after hearing great things about the food and performances, Marinette’s parents had decided to see the circus. The same parents Mari hadn’t seen nor heard from in almost four years. And they had no idea that Gina had left her with a traveling circus.</p>
<p>That night was one of the nights where Dick and Mari performed twice; once with his parents and once by themselves. There was no indication that things were about to take a bad turn, aside from an ominous sense of foreboding that lingered over the performers. The two birds performed beautifully, gracefully flying through the air together with wide smiles, enjoying every minute they were in the air together. Their performance was captivating, and it was their downfall. Their performance had been a little <em>too</em> good. Their lithe, graceful figures had inspired her baker parents, who had decided they wanted to meet the performers, not knowing that one of them was their own daughter.</p>
<p>Mari hadn’t known they were there until after the show, when she was relaxing with Dick. The two of them were sitting backstage, leaning against each other while holding hands, journals on their laps as they took a quick break. Both of them had removed the masks they wore for their performances, though they were still in their stage clothes. It was a familiar sight to all those that worked with the circus, and so the two went undisturbed. Neither of them noticed the two figures slipping in through the flaps of the tent in search of them. They didn't notice the shock that settled into anger as the two intruders caught sight of Marinette's unobscured face as she and Dick smiled and cuddled together, talking about their performance.</p>
<p>They weren’t expecting it when Marinette was suddenly ripped away from Dick, both of the children crying out in shock as she was torn away roughly. When she caught sight of who had her, she paled drastically. “Papa-?”</p>
<p>Dick’s eyes widened as she put a name to her captor. He’d never met her parents before, and from what he’d heard about them, they were more concerned with their business than Mari.</p>
<p>Tom held her in place a few feet away from Dick, who was watching in concern. Her parents were angry, that much was obvious to all those who had the misfortune of laying eyes on them. “What do you think you’re doing here Marinette? You’re supposed to be with Gina!” The grip on her arm tightened at his words, warning her not to lie.</p>
<p>Mari spluttered a bit as she tried to gain her bearings, all the while attempting to free herself from her father's grip. “Nonna brought me to them! The ringmaster is a friend of hers and we’ve been traveling with them! Nonna is just away on business!”</p>
<p>Their faces shifted into a darker shade of red in their rage. “Our daughter will <em>not</em> grow up to be some- some <em>carnie!”</em> </p>
<p>Her maman looked at her coldly, no sympathy for her distressed daughter visible anywhere on her face. “Leaving you with Gina was a mistake. You’ll be returning home with us <em>immediately.</em> Gina can get your stuff and send it to us later.”</p>
<p>Tears began to stream down Mari’s face as she clutched her journal to her chest with one hand, reaching towards her other half with her free hand. “No! You can’t just- Dick!” He reached out for her in desperation, and just as their hands were about to meet Mari was swept off the ground and thrown over her father’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Mari!” Dick moved to follow, but his parents held him back, watching after Marinette with sad eyes. Tears began to run freely down Dick’s face as he and Mari fought to be freed, fought to get back to each other, but it was all for naught. Mari was forcibly carried out of the tent, arm still outstretched towards Dick as she let out a final cry of panic before she was gone.</p>
<p>Dick collapsed to his knees as he stared at the place she’d just disappeared from, and as his parents finally released him he broke down into sobs.</p>
<p>Mari’s nightmares had been accurate, and they hadn’t heeded their warning. Now they were being separated, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Their only solace lay in the journals Mari had prepared for them.</p>
<p>She continued to fight against her parents the whole way home, but there was no way for her to get free without hurting them. As soon as they got back to their apartment Mari was thrown up into her room, and they made sure she stayed on the premises until the circus had moved on. She’d been exchanging frantic, sorrowful messages with Dick all the while, both of them absolutely devastated at being separated. There was nothing they could do about it.</p>
<p>The Graysons and Haly were kind enough to pack up her trailer and mail her things back to her, though Mari had to sneak anything related to the circus up to her room. Not that her parents were actively paying attention to her. She managed to redecorate her entire room and they didn’t notice until after she’d already done it. Gone was the over-abundance of pink, swapped out for shades of calming blue that reminded Mari of Dick, who she missed terribly.</p>
<p>After four years of constant companionship, Marinette was once again alone. She had nothing to keep her company aside from the plants she kept on her balcony, her books, some birds, and her journal. She’d never been so happy to have made those journals as she was when she felt the crushing loneliness of being home with her busy parents. They might as well have not been there at all for how often Mari actually interacted with them. She likened them to jailors more than parents.</p>
<p>She had hoped that once she was in school she’d be able to make some friends, but she was wrong. The mayor’s daughter singled her out and cast her into social isolation. Even if she hadn’t been prematurely outcasted she would’ve had a tough time making friends. Her intellect, which she had found normal in the circus with Dick, was higher than that of her classmates. Add that to how she’d been away from Paris for so long and nobody was willing to stand up for her. She was just some strange new kid that they'd never met before, and they were far more worried about what Chloe could do to them than they were about Mari.</p>
<p>She took the hint and stopped trying. Instead she focused more of her energy on her projects, like learning magic and designing clothes. While she'd been with the circus she'd had the opportunity to work with lots of costume designers, and she had been the one to design her and Dick's costumes for their Bird performances. After a little experimentation, Marinette had discovered that magic came pretty naturally to her, though there was nobody around to mentor her, so she was forced to learn alone. She made sure to exchange messages with Dick whenever she could, though she wished they could speak in person.</p>
<p>Her parents had agreed to enroll her in gymnastics, and she was glad to be able to keep up with her routine at least a little, but it wasn’t the same. The gymnastics place she was enrolled in had trapeze equipment, but whenever she used it she found herself reaching for someone who wasn’t there, only able to perform half of a routine without her partner. Dick had the same problem, from what he’d told her through their messages. Her instructor had told her that she looked like a bird that had lost its mate. Beautifully tragic.</p>
<p>They had no choice but to live their lives as they were. Forced to accept their new normal, at least until Haly brought the circus back to Paris. Both of them managed to paste on smiles and pretend everything was fine, but those closest to them didn’t buy it. Everybody around Marinette bought it, and nobody around Dick.</p>
<p>They managed to keep up pretenses for three years, until tragedy struck the circus during its show in Gotham. Dick’s parents died right in front of him, and Mari wasn’t there to help him. She had known immediately that something bad had happened, awoken after a terrible nightmare with tears in her eyes and Dick’s name on her lips. She went scrying to check on him, and couldn’t contain her sobs when she saw the source of her nightmare.</p>
<p>Mari didn’t care if she couldn’t be there physically, dammit. She had to <em>be there</em> for him. There was no way Mari would allow him to suffer alone, but there was no way for her to get to Gotham without having been there before. Which meant that she had to get creative.</p>
<p>It took her a while, but she was finally able to get in contact with him that night when he fell asleep. She’d impulsively studied dream sharing a little while ago, though now the decision didn’t seem nearly so impulsive as it had at the time. As soon as the connection had gone through she’d rushed to him and hugged him close, whispering apologies as he broke into tears once again.</p>
<p>When he registered <em>who</em> was attempting to comfort him, he’d frozen. He pulled back in disbelief as he stared at her. “Mari?”</p>
<p>She stared up at him with wide, wet eyes. “I’m here, Dick. I know it’s not the same as being there in person, and I <em>wish</em> I could hold you for real, but I’m here for you. I know about what happened.”</p>
<p>He tensed up again as he tugged her closer, burying his face in her shoulder. “It wasn’t an accident. Somebody frayed their ropes on <em>purpose,</em> and I’m going to make sure whoever is responsible gets punished.”</p>
<p>Mari stiffened a little before relaxing, rubbing soothing circles into his back. “Just don’t let your need to avenge them consume you. I know you need to do something, I would too if I were there with you, but if you obsess over it, it will consume you. And if it consumes you how am I supposed to see you again?” She let out a weak chuckle, but from the way he pulled back to look up at her, he wasn't buying it.</p>
<p>“I want to see you again too. I promise, Mari. I won’t let it consume me.”</p>
<p>“That’s all I needed to hear. Now that that’s out of the way, let me comfort you.”</p>
<p>He gave a weak smile as they cuddle up together, remaining in constant contact until they woke up. Mari stared off into the distance longingly as she awoke. He’d keep his promise, and they would meet again, even if it took them a long while. She took to scrying for him often after that, which is how she learned he'd been adopted by billionaire orphan Bruce Wayne. It's also how she found out about Batman and Robin. It devastated Mari that she couldn't be there for him while he grieved, even more so when she found out how he was taking out his frustrations. She never would've expected him to become a vigilante, and when they messaged each other he let no indications of it slip through. He was hiding it from her.</p>
<p>There was nothing she could do about it if he didn't want her to know, so she instead placed protections on him and his adoptive father, ensuring nobody else would be able to scry them and find out their secrets. If she sent him a simple black braided leather bracelet, one that he could wear during his nightly outings, that <em>also</em> had magical sensors in it, well... that was her business. Dick never had to know. It was for her peace of mind, linking back to her own matching bracelet, though hers had a single blue bead in the shape of a bird. The bead was enchanted to heat up and glow if Dick got himself into serious trouble with no way out. She would only interfere if there was no other option, and her involvement would have to be extremely discrete. She couldn't have him finding out <em>all</em> of her secrets, after all.</p>
<p>She made sure to keep an eye out for him whenever possible, and he seemed to be doing well as a vigilante. Mari just hoped that it wouldn't become his life, like it seemed to have become the life of his mentor. There were no problems until shortly after Mari turned twelve, a little less than a year after Dick's parents had died. Her first day of collège, which had surprisingly been going pretty well, was interrupted when she was chosen to deal with a brand new magical terrorist. Which was just what she needed. When she found the guy who'd slipped a powerful magical artifact into her bag they were going to be having <em>words.</em> Who would entrust <em>magical artifacts</em> to <em>children?</em></p>
<p>The newly dubbed Ladybug didn't have time to think about it as she yanked her overly enthusiastic partner out of the way of Stone Heart's fist. When she found this Hawkmoth guy she was going to kick his ass. He deserved it for taking advantage of people's emotions. The only upside to the whole situation was that it gave her an opportunity to fly again. Her new partner, if she could even call him that, was nothing like Dick. While being able to fly again was great, without her fellow bird beside her, it was a cold solace at best.</p>
<p>Mari could only hope that she'd be able to resolve the situation sooner rather than later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm officially back from vacation! Now I can put more focus on this fic, which is great.</p>
<p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With Mari’s magic and supreme negotiation powers she was able to find and scold the Guardian only a few days after receiving the miraculous. Tikki <em>really</em> hadn’t wanted to give him up, but faced with Marinette’s resolve to find him, had eventually caved. It helped that se had magic at her disposal. Tikki seemed oddly excited about it, though she didn’t know why yet.</p>
<p>Two days after becoming Ladybug Marinette was patiently waiting outside Wang Fu’s shop. He hadn’t given anything away when he’d led her inside, though she could tell he was surprised and a bit nervous. She gave no indication of the real reason she was visiting as he led her through the building to a secluded room with an old record player. The room was covered in magical protections, and it was obvious that the record player held more magical artifacts.</p>
<p>Mari waited until they’d sat down to start in on him. “So, Master Fu. Would you mind explaining just <em>why</em> you thought it’d be a good idea to give out magical artifacts to practical <em>children?”</em> </p>
<p>“How did you- “ Tikki flew out of her bag looking guilty, which answered his question rather effectively. “I see.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry Master! Marinette is <em>really</em> convincing <em>and</em> knows magic, so there wasn’t any use hiding it from her. She would’ve found you one way or the other.” The surety in Tikki’s voice made sure Fu actually believed it. Marinette was a determined young woman, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>“I’m still waiting for a reasonable answer.”</p>
<p>“Ah, well you see...” Fu started to sweat a bit as he withered under the weight of Mari’s judging gaze. “In the order it was normal for children to be taken in and trained. They are more innocent and likely to do the right thing. Both you and Chat Noir passed my tests, and the Kwami were certain you were compatible. You’ve certainly done a wonderful job so far.”</p>
<p>Mari narrowed her eyes at him. “All I’m hearing are excuses. There’s no real reason for you to entrust such powerful artifacts to us, and your ‘tests,’” here she made air-quotes to help show her disdain, “were not a good indicator of our personalities. You didn’t even research us or interact with us, and you’ve basically thrown us to the wolves. Now <em>I</em> was a trapeze artist in the circus for a few years, plus I’ve been learning self-defense on my own and with instructors since I was little. I know what I’m doing. Chat Noir, on the other hand, only seems to have knowledge in fencing. If he doesn’t get some real training things aren’t going to turn out too well for him. If you’re going to force us to fight this moth-guy for you then you can at least explain things to us properly. Not just allow our Kwami to tell us pre-approved information at inopportune moments.”</p>
<p>“We- well I didn’t think, didn’t think it’d be a good idea to meet you both so soon.” The nervous tone of voice combined with the stutter assured Mari that she’d gotten her point across.</p>
<p>“I realize that you’re the last of the Order and as such must protect the miraculous as best you can, but you need to be more careful. Us kids these days love our technology, and not all of us are good people at heart. We could’ve exposed everything on accident or used the powers you granted us for our own purposes. That said, I’m fine with continuing to help you deal with the Hawkmoth Situation. All I ask is that you help us where you can, maybe talk to Chat.”</p>
<p>He conceded her points with a sigh, though he still seemed nervous. “That’s... fair. You’ve made good points Marinette. I see my decision to entrust the Ladybug miraculous to you was a good one. I will do as you ask.”</p>
<p>“Thank you Master.” There was a loud crash in the distance, followed closely by screaming. Their phones lit up with an Akuma Alert a second later. “Welp! Duty calls! See you later Master Fu!” She was gone before he could get another word out, satisfied that he’d been properly chastised.</p>
<p>They had more frequent contact after that, which was nice. He’d even started training her to be the next Guardian. As a cover they told people that she was helping him with his business, which turned out to be a great excuse for just about everything.</p>
<p>And boy did she need some good excuses. She thought dealing with Chloe was irritating, but when Alya and Adrien joined the school the irritation went up several notches. Mari had been suspicious of both of them from the first day. Alya due to her extremely friendly nature and the news that she wanted to be a journalist, along with the special interest she expressed in what being friends with Marinette could get her. Adrien was suspicious because his personality seemed a bit... fake. He was extremely timid, and was counted as a friend by <em>Chloe</em> of all people. The guy had no backbone from what she could tell. The revelation that he was Chat just made him all the more questionable.</p>
<p>Suddenly Mari was a lot busier than she should've been, and it was very taxing. From being dragged around by Alya, who was convinced she had a huge crush on Adrien, to taking care of akumas, to being roped into becoming the class president, Mari barely had any time to herself. She hated it. All of her time was being eaten up by people who didn't appreciate it, and all the rest was dedicated to watching over Dick, who seemed to get himself into a lot of trouble whenever possible. She hadn't had to intervene to help him yet, but she was worried she would need to soon if things kept going the way they were. She was worried that when something <em>did</em> inevitably happen she wouldn't be able to help him due to her exhaustion. All attempts to distance herself from the class, to once again be a social outcast, were rejected by just about everyone. The same people that had refused to stand up for her the previous year were now constantly asking for her help with things, and it was beginning to grate on her.</p>
<p>When they got another new student, one with tales of grandeur and a fake-as-they-come smile, Marinette finally got a reprieve. While Lila was a liar, and Mari hated liars, she was useful. With her around, Mari wasn't accosted by the class nearly as often as before, as they were too busy waiting on Lila hand and foot to spare her a thought. This suited Mari just fine. Lila's admittance to the school led Mari to the clue she needed to her first solid suspect, distracted her classmates, <em>and</em> started pushing her back into outcast status.</p>
<p>While the Volpina incident had been annoying, it granted Mari access to the Miraculous Grimoire, which she promptly cloned before dropping the original off with Master Fu for translation. The copy of the grimoire was virtually useless, and Mari had made sure Hawkmoth would be completely unable to decrypt it. Taking care of Lila was easy when she was able to see through her illusions, though she wished she hadn't had to see all the Ladybug memorabilia Adrien had been amassing. His obsession over her as Ladybug was concerning, and while she brought it up to Master Fu, who didn't think it would be an issue, Mari was worried his obsession might end poorly for her somehow.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Mari, after the Volpina incident Lila went on a fake diplomatic mission, which meant the class was once again begging her for favors. If she were to deny them these favors she was sure to get in trouble with her parents, so she was forced to comply. At that point the only good things in her life were the Kwami, Dick, designing, and magic. Tikki had been teaching her how to access and use miraculous magic, and Fu had been training her in Guardian magic. In addition to those, Mari was working on learning other types of magic from grimoires she'd found in obscure shops. While miraculous magic was extremely useful, her favorite type of magic was probably shadow manipulation, which had been endlessly useful in helping her escape from annoyances.</p>
<p>She didn't know how she'd survive the stress of being everyone's doormat without magic. Energy potions were her best friend next to Dick, who was always excessively cheerful when they exchanged messages. She hadn't risked dream sharing with him aside from when he was injured or in emotional distress, so they hadn't been able to talk to each other properly on a regular basis. Both of them had their own ways of checking in on each other. Dick through the Batcomputer and lots of hacking, and Mari through scrying and other forms of magic. Marinette went out of her way to make it seem like everything was okay on her end, making her own hacks to get rid of any info that might give Dick cause for concern. She didn't have to worry about Dick learning of the Hawkmoth Situation due to her agreement with the mayor to keep things under wraps. She'd thought about asking the Justice League for help, but had decided against it because there was <em>no way</em> she was going to risk having to deal with an akumatized hero. That and she didn't want Dick to find out and come running. With the resources he'd gained upon being adopted by Bruce Wayne, there was little doubt that he'd rush over at the first sign of trouble.</p>
<p>As time passed, Lila came back and the akumas got worse. By the time Mari was slated to enter lycée, she had died countless times, faced brutal akumas, and saved Dick numerous times without him finding out. At some point Dick had helped found a hero team under the guidance of the Justice League, which gave Mari some peace of mind where his safety was concerned. She'd had to scope them out herself, of course, to make sure they would be able to keep him safe for her. It had been difficult to set up a situation where she'd be able to see them in action, but when Haly set up shop near Paris with rumors of things happening around the circus, she'd gotten her chance.</p>
<p>She knew the moment Dick set foot in the country, and had made arrangements to keep the heroes from getting suspicious of the city while she went off to observe them. Luck for her, Gabriel was out of the city on business for the duration of the time the heroes would be near the city, which made things easier for her. After confirming that Gabriel would be away, all that was left was to use a bit of magic to slip away from her parents and head for the circus. Haly, while surprised, had been happy to see her and allowed her to do as she pleased as long as she agreed to perform in the circus for him on the last day. She was quick to agree before slipping off to observe the team as they investigated the circus. She'd had to do some careful magic to evade the Martian's notice, but she'd managed it, observing their interactions carefully throughout their time with the circus.</p>
<p>On the day of the last show, Mari was slated to perform right after the heroes, and Haly hadn't told anyone she was there. While Robin had had a small mishap during their performance and was on his way backstage, most of the guests gearing up to leave, Haly had halted everyone in their tracks.</p>
<p>“Ladies and gentlemen! I realize that what’s about to happen wasn’t in the program, but when I got the opportunity for this performer to shine once again, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!” The lights went out as a single spotlight slowly made its way up to the platforms. “Here for this one night only, with a routine dedicated to the partner she was cruelly ripped away from many years ago, please give a warm welcome to Cardinal!” The spotlight finally landed on Mari, her lone figure sparkling up on the platforms. As she jumped from her platform to begin, she noticed that upon hearing her name Dick had stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to stare up at her in shock. His teammates questioned the action, but they couldn’t drag him away from where he had frozen. He could recognize Mari anywhere.</p>
<p>Her costume was reminiscent of the one she wore when they performed together, sparkling red and decorated with delicate feathers. A domino mask was secured over her face to prevent anyone she knew from school from recognizing her, though it couldn’t ever hope to fool Dick, her one true partner. The routine she’d come up with was one she’d been working on ever since she’d been signed up for gymnastics and her instructor had remarked over the sorrow she exuded, like a bird who’d lost their mate. As she twirled and flipped through the air, reaching longingly for a partner she couldn’t reach, she was aware of all the eyes glued to her, though Dick’s were the most intense. He was obviously shocked at her presence, and he longed to join her in the air, though he couldn’t. Her performance was hauntingly beautiful, all who viewed it overcome with the emotions she managed to portray as she let loose her sorrow.</p>
<p>As she released the bar for the final time in the performance, she let a single tear escape her eye, onlookers gasping in shock as she dove gracefully towards the earth. She used her magic to create a bright flash that forced everyone to look away, and by the time it cleared enough for them to look back, she was gone. There were murmurs of shock, confusion, and awe throughout the crowd as Haly asked that they give Cardinal a round of applause before drawing the show to a close. Dick, thoroughly shocked and concerned by the performance, searched desperately for Mari, but he couldn’t find her. When his teammates tried to find out what was wrong, he wouldn’t give them an explanation. He questioned Haly, but all he got out of him was that Mari had asked to be allowed to participate for old times’ sake, and that she’d left as soon as she was finished.</p>
<p>Satisfied that Dick’s new team would indeed keep him safe, Mari allowed herself to slip away, the small smile on her face contrasting with the tears running down her face. She always got emotional when performing, and she'd put a lot of her sorrow into her performance that night, relishing in the freedom of letting her emotions loose. Dick had been <em>devastated</em> to be so close to Mari without being able to speak to her, and Mari wasn't much better. She knew that he wouldn't be able to visit her either, what with the mission being unsanctioned and all. They weren't meant to be properly reunited just yet, and while her heart ached at being so close yet so far, Marinette knew better than to go against fate.</p>
<p>As the Guardian of the Miraculous, she was intimately aware of such things, and her own magical experience added to it. She knew better than to scorn fate. They would meet again, even if she <em>did</em> have the feeling that it wouldn't be under the best circumstances.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, I haven't seen much of YJ, but I want to include little bits and pieces when possible, so apologies for any inconsistencies. I will likely shred canon to pieces, so consider yourselves warned.</p>
<p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
<p>I do my best to respond to all comments and love hearing your thoughts, so feel free to let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days after Dick had once again left the country, he messaged Mari, letting her know that he’d seen her performance. He claimed he saw it through a video and not in person, which was feasible, but they both knew the truth. He'd seen it in person with his teammates nearby, all of them confused over his reaction to the performer. She knew that he hadn’t told anyone about her, wanting to keep her safe from the life he led. He’d kept her existence from everyone at every chance he got, and she knew because she’d done much the same.</p><p>None of her classmates knew of her circus background, and she aimed to keep it that way. When she walked into class to find her classmates raving about Cardinal’s performance, even with Lila claiming to know Cardinal personally, Mari kept silent. Nobody was any the wiser, which is exactly how Mari wanted it. At least, she <em>thought</em> nobody was onto her.</p><p>When she met up with Chat for the first time after her performance she found otherwise. He’d asked her if she’d been at the circus casually, though she could tell he was suspicious. He was the one person who’d actually been able to witness a lot of her stunts in person, and seeing her perform as Cardinal obviously rung some bells for him. She denied it of course, but the seed of suspicion was already planted. He wouldn’t be swayed.</p><p>In class Adrien would constantly share his frustrations at the lack of information on Cardinal with Nino. As soon as she’d heard that he was actively looking into it she called Haly and asked him to bury anything that could lead to her true identity. He agreed easily enough, though he was obviously a bit worried as to <em>why,</em> especially since she wouldn’t give a proper reason. While Haly did his part, Mari did some hacking to finish off the rest. Her true name had never been linked to Cardinal before, but she wasn’t taking any chances.</p><p>It was bad enough that her parents had discovered that she’d performed. They hadn’t even known the circus had been in town, so they had been considerably shocked and angry upon seeing the video of her performance. She’d been grounded for like a month when they found out. The only good thing about it was that they wouldn’t dare admit to anyone that the girl in the video was their daughter. Her classmates could gush about it all they wanted and her parents would never say a word.</p><p>It was a little awkward for Marinette for a while after her performance, what with people constantly talking about it, but it died down after a while. She had noticed that a couple heroes had visited Paris in hopes of seeing the elusive Cardinal that had gotten such a strong reaction out of Robin, but they never stayed long. Dick found out every time and scared them away. None of them had seen her, though she’d certainly seen a few of them. They weren’t exactly subtle, and many of them were emotional, but as Hawkmoth didn’t want to risk League involvement, he never did anything when a foreign hero was spotted in the city.</p><p>He’d been getting more annoying to deal with, but as Mari couldn’t get enough evidence to warrant searching his place, she wasn’t able to go after him. Well, not <em>legally,</em> anyway. The akumas were getting stronger and Chat less useful, which frustrated Mari to no end. She had been contemplating bringing in some new temp heroes, as all previous ones had been exposed and untrustworthy. Fu had picked out temp heroes for her, always someone she knew who was close to her age, and she’d questioned his decision every time. Now that he was amnesiac in regards to the miraculous there was no reason for her to stick with them. The only two that she’d found competent were Luka and Kagami, neither of which she could risk reinstating.</p><p>Eventually she was forced to accept the fact that the only one she could trust to do the job right, aside from Dick, was herself. Her lucky charm had made it rather clear when it gave her a mouse plush with the miraculous symbol on it. All temp heroes from then on were Mari herself split into however many were necessary for the battle. The mouse miraculous became a new part of her wardrobe, as did the fox. From that point on any hero seen working with Ladybug was an extension of Ladybug herself, not that the public knew that. Everyone, even Chat Noir, was convinced that the new heroes were real people that Ladybug had entrusted with a miraculous. The appearance of these 'new' heroes obviously frustrated Hawkmoth, who had been forced to retire Mayura or risk losing his assistant. He'd been working to uncover <em>who</em> Ladybug had been giving a miraculous to in hopes of preventing her from using them again, but all attempts had failed.</p><p>It was clear that Gabriel was growing more desperate as time went on. He was getting sloppier, starting to leave a solid trail for Mari to follow. Bit by bit, she began collecting the evidence he was unknowingly leaving behind. It was difficult for her to investigate him with Chat Noir actively attempting to hinder her investigation. After becoming Guardian Mari had made it clear to Chat that as soon as they took Hawkmoth down she'd be reclaiming the miraculous from him, and she refused to consent to a mutual identity reveal. Adrien, who was increasingly obsessed with her as Ladybug, wasn't too happy with that, hence his attempts to hinder her investigation. He refused to listen when she asked him to back off and keep it professional, often telling people that the wielders of the ladybug and black cat were soulmates. He'd also started to sit out akuma battles entirely, occasionally helping the akuma a little to force her to stay out longer.</p><p>Needless to say, she was getting sick of dealing with him. The Parisians were getting sick of him too, many of them having died due to his interference in akuma battles. People were starting to hold petitions for her to retire him. Permanently. He was obviously offended by their low opinion of him, and he would often try and defend himself in class, though he was often shut down. Mari was just glad she'd been relegated back to outcast so she didn't have to deal with any of them. She was honestly surprised that he hadn't been akumatized yet. He had certainly been emotional enough for Hawkmoth to sense it.</p><p>It was odd, to say the least. Especially when he attempted to get closer to her as Marinette on both sides of his mask. <em>That</em> warranted an investigation. She'd done some digging, hacked into the Agreste's security system and eavesdropped from the shadows in order to find out what had prompted the sudden change. Turned out Gabriel had been desperate enough for help to take Ladybug down that he'd actually confessed he was Hawkmoth to Adrien. While Adrien was initially angry, upon hearing and seeing the reason for his father's actions, he'd confessed to being Chat Noir and agreed to work with his father against Ladybug. That's why he was getting closer to her as Marinette, Gabriel had asked him to. Apparently Gabriel had sensed that Mari would make an incredibly powerful akuma, and wanted Adrien to work with Lila to get her akumatized. He also wanted her to work for him in the future, though that was secondary to his primary goal of making her an akuma.</p><p>School slowly became a living hell for Marinette as Adrien and Lila worked to tear her down. Suddenly, instead of just being an outcast, she was the target of everyone's frustrations. She was the target of many powerful akumas, her classmates went out of their way to trip her up and destroy her things, and she would stumble home most days with new bruises. It had started out small and slowly escalated. With two people on the task of getting her emotional enough to be akumatized, Gabriel had become less frantic, though he was still trying to find out who she used for temp heroes. She endured everything that was thrown at her until she turned seventeen. Her birthday was over the summer, and she had little contact with her classmates over the break, so none of them knew what she did until the school year started up again and she wasn't there. She'd graduated early and applied for legal emancipation, which she'd been granted.</p><p>Nobody knew where she'd gone or what she was up to. All they knew was that she'd disappeared, leaving them without their favorite punching bag and scapegoat. With her skill in shadow manipulation they could only every catch glimpses of her, never able to get close enough to speak with her. Her disappearance had left many of them feeling guilty, with the exception of the Agrestes and Lila, who were furious that their target had essentially dropped off the face of the earth. She'd made sure that Dick wasn't able to find out how she'd been treated, and treasured the messages that they shared. He'd recently moved to Bludhaven to become a cop and picked up a new vigilante identity. He'd also gained a new adoptive brother, though he seemed conflicted about it. She knew that he was upset that the boy was being trained to take up the mantle he'd left behind, but that was no reason for him to ignore the boy.</p><p>Dick was stubborn, so she knew there was little chance of her convincing him to be there for Jason. It wasn't fair for him to leave the kid hanging just because he was upset with Bruce, however, so Mari had decided to do something about it. She'd traveled to Gotham in secret with a little help from Kaalki, and she'd found Jason sitting on a gargoyle in his Robin costume, obviously upset about something. He was ignoring all the voices coming from the communicator he'd left sitting beside him, and was just staring off into the distance when Mari dropped down in front of him.</p><p>He was obviously shocked at her sudden presence, jumping to his feet and taking a defensive stance as he glared at her. "Who are you?"</p><p>She smiled at him, holding up her hands to show she was unarmed. She'd made sure to drop her transformation before appearing in front of him. "I'm a friend of your brother, Dick. I came by to meet you since he's being so stubborn."</p><p>Though she couldn't see his eyes, she could tell that he'd rolled them, scoffing at her answer. "So you're one of his hero buddies?"</p><p>"No, I'm a friend from his circus days. We haven't seen each other in person in a long while, but we've kept in contact. He wouldn't have mentioned me, hasn't talked about me to anyone, in fact."</p><p>"How do I know you're telling the truth?"</p><p>Mari tilted her head at the kid before pulling out a picture of her and Dick backstage after a performance, handing it over to Jason who scrutinized it. "That's a picture of the two of us after a performance before we were separated."</p><p>He glanced back up at her as he returned the photo. "Ok, so you're legit. Doesn't explain what you're doing here. Or how you got up here."</p><p>She chose to ignore his second question. "I know that Dick is fighting with Bruce right now and isn't really helping you out because of it. It's stupid of him to ignore you because of an argument he had with him, but as I know him well enough to know he won't change his mind, I've decided to help you out in his stead. If something were to happen to you, he'd be devastated."</p><p>"And how are you supposed to help me, exactly?"</p><p>"Here," she handed him a black leather bracelet, one similar to the one she'd gifted Dick all those years ago. It was linked to her bracelet, though she'd added a new charm to keep track of the kid. He took it warily, looking between her and the bracelet skeptically. She rolled her eyes at him. "It's magic. If you're ever in trouble with no way out while you're wearing it, I'll know and be able to help you. I've done the same for Dick many times, though he doesn't know it. He doesn't know that I know, and he doesn't want to get me involved. All I ask is that you don't tell him you met me."</p><p>"He won't hear anything from me. Is there any way that I'll be able to contact you?" She hesitated a bit before pulling out a slip of paper with her number on it, handing it over to Jason. He looked at it and nodded before tucking it away into his utility belt. "Thanks."</p><p>"You're welcome Jason." Her phone dinged with an akuma alert, causing her to curse under her breath as Kaalki opened a portal behind her. "Feel free to text and call whenever you want, Jay! I've got to go take care of something."</p><p>She ignored his shock at the portal as she slipped through it and back to Paris, where she made quick work of the akuma before heading back to her apartment. She made sure she placed the same magical protections she'd placed on the other members of the Wayne household on Jason before entering her studio to work on a few of her commission pieces. Being discovered by Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale at such a young age had proved very beneficial to Marinette, who worked under a pseudonym to avoid unwanted attention. She was extra glad she'd decided to work under a pseud when she heard murmurs of Gabriel looking to get her blacklisted as a last ditch attempt to akumatize her, not that it would work.</p><p>She'd had just about enough of their pointless attempts to akumatize her. The only good thing about it was that in their desperation to manipulate her, they'd left behind the clues that she needed to prove to the police that her suspicions were sound. All she had left to do was compile all the evidence, which she quickly completed before arranging a meeting with the police as Ladybug. She'd showed them all the evidence they'd compiled, but they were afraid of attempting to confront him, so they gave her the okay to do what she felt was necessary. That was all the permission she needed to slip into the Agreste Manor late that night, retrieving the butterfly and peacock miraculous before teaming up with the Kwami to curse him. With his money and status there was no guarantee that he'd face legal consequences, so they'd decided that they would curse him to live out the pain of all his victims; he would experience the pain of every person who had ever been hurt and died due to his actions. To others it would seem like he'd simply slipped into a coma, but Mari would make sure the public knew the truth.</p><p>She dropped the comatose Gabriel off at the hospital and alerted the police to his predicament before returning to the manor, looking to take back the cat miraculous from Adrien. Only problem was that he wasn't in the manor, so she had no idea where to look for him. She'd have to wait to steal his miraculous back, setting some wards to alert her when he returned to the manor.</p><p>The next day she held a press conference with the police and explained the situation. She explained that she'd had a civilian aiding her in gathering evidence against her main suspect, and when they'd gathered enough evidence they'd gotten the okay from the police she'd acted. While the public was a bit unhappy that they didn't get to see him nailed in court, they seemed to feel that forcing him to feel their pain was fair, not that she needed their approval. Gabriel's punishment was officially her jurisdiction as Guardian of the Miraculous, so her involving the police at all was simply her being courteous.</p><p>All that was left for her to do was take back the miraculous from Adrien, though she felt like it'd be harder than she was initially anticipating.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Finding Adrien proved to be a lot more difficult than Mari had originally anticipated. He seemed to be purposefully hiding away, and while she could scry for his location, he moved around too much for her to be able to pin him down. He’d avoided returning to the manor as well, so he never tripped the wards she’d left there. It was frustrating, to say the least. You'd think finding such a public figure would be simple, but Mari found that that wasn't the case where Adrien was concerned.</p>
<p>On top of her difficulty finding Adrien, Dick had been unable to message her as consistently as normal. He was dealing with some family and hero drama. Needless to say Mari wasn’t having a very good time. The only thing she looked forward to was work and talking to Jason, who had warmed up to her despite his initial suspicions. Jason seemed to have been struggling with something, however, and Mari had a bad feeling about it. Her bad feeling was proven correct when the charm that represented Jason started glowing one night, heating up as his condition worsened. Mari immediately dropped what she was doing, transforming with the fox as Kaalki opened a portal for her. The portal let out into a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, and it was there that she found Jason, tied up and beaten on the ground as a bomb ticked away.</p>
<p>She didn’t think twice. She scooped him off the ground and hopped right back through the portal before the bomb could go off, placing Jason gently on the bed of her guest room as she dropped her transformation. He was barely conscious of what was happening as Mari called upon her magic, coaxing it into healing the worst of his injuries. The magic flowed through him soothingly as it worked with his body to close up cuts and set and heal bones. Mari continued to heal him even as she began to weaken, sweat beading on her forehead as she used all the energy she had to save Jason.</p>
<p>She managed it, but only just barely. He’d been in terrible shape, and the healing had taken a lot out of her. What he’d been doing alone in that warehouse she had no idea, but there was no excuse for the people around him letting it happen. She knew that he’d been having problems with Bruce and Dick, but they still should’ve noticed <em>something</em>.</p>
<p>A quick scrying session showed that Bruce had in fact made it to the warehouse just in time for the bomb to go off, and she was gratified to see him devastated. If he'd paid more attention to Jason, he wouldn't be searching for his son's corpse amidst the ruins of a warehouse. As she watched him sift through the debris in search of a body, she wondered whether she should leave a clue to his survival. The pain the normally stoic bat exuded made the decision for her. As much as Mari thought he deserved the pain for his ignorance where Jason was concerned, she couldn't find it in her to allow him to think his son dead. Just as he collapsed to his knees in the middle of the destroyed warehouse a piece of paper fluttered down in front of him. Upon closer examination the words ‘he’s alive’ were printed on it, and as she watched hope bloom on the bat’s face, she knew she’d made the right decision.</p>
<p>After that was accomplished she promptly passed out at Jason’s bedside, and she remained as such for almost twelve hours before waking. The first thing she did was check on him, making sure he was healing properly as she checked on any wounds her magic had glossed over while focusing on the life-threatening ones. She prepared some food for the both of them, eating her portion as she waited for him to wake.</p>
<p>When he woke, he was frantic, almost flying off the bed before Mari managed to pin him back down. As he came to his senses he took stock of the situation, taking in the fact that it was <em>Marinette</em> he was seeing, and not one of the batfam. His confusion was obvious as he glanced around before focusing his gaze on her. “Mari...?”</p>
<p>She gently patted his hand to help reassure him. “I’m here Jay. You’re safe now.”</p>
<p>“But I was- how did you-?” His brow creased in thought. As far as he knew, there should've been no way for Marinette to find and help him. Even with the 'magic' bracelet she'd gifted him.</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and let out a small huff of fond exasperation. “I gave you that bracelet for a reason Jaybird. As soon as I was alerted to you being in danger I set off to help you out.”</p>
<p>“But I was in Ethiopia. And you live in Paris. How did you get there so fast?”</p>
<p>“That bracelet had to get its magic from somewhere, right?” She winked at him, wiggling her fingers as she allowed magic to coalesce in her palm.</p>
<p>He didn't know what to do with that information, so he just kinda shrugged it off. “Does anybody know I’m here? Or that I’m, you know, <em>alive?”</em></p>
<p>“I left a note stating you were alive, but nobody knows your location.”</p>
<p>“No kidding. Not even <em>I</em> know my location. Where did you take me?”</p>
<p>“My apartment, obviously. We’re in Paris.” She gestured out the window, and sure enough, the Eiffel Tower was visible in the distance.</p>
<p>Mari forced him to eat after that, and she continued to fuss over him as his wounds healed. She’d gotten a few messages from Dick, who informed her that his brother was missing and that he was worried. She did her best to reassure him, but there was only so much she could say without giving everything away. Jason became her own personal shadow for the duration of his stay in Paris, and she was glad to see that he seemed to be enjoying his time with her. He’d even referred to her as his sister once, which had gotten him an enthusiastic tackle-hug. Mari wished he could stay with her longer, but the bats were all looking for him, and if he stayed they’d end up in Paris eventually.</p>
<p>So it was that around a month after Mari saved him, she was ushering a grumbly Jason through a portal that led to the entrance of Wayne Manor. He texted her a few hours later expressing his distaste for being smothered, but she knew he was glad to be back with them. Based on Dick’s happy messages assuring her his brother had been found, they were glad to have him back as well. There was no way that Jason would give her up, so she didn't need to be worried about him telling them about how she'd saved him. Marinette made sure to keep a closer eye on Jason after that, to make sure he didn't get into so much trouble again. He'd dropped the mantle of Robin for the time being, and he was a bit more distant with the bats, but he made sure to keep contact with Mari. The whole situation had hit him pretty hard, and he was still struggling with it, though Mari was helping him a lot.</p>
<p>With Jason safe and relatively stable Marinette had once again turned her focus to finding Adrien, and she had been making some decent progress, though he still managed to evade her. She wasn't expecting it when she met him again. She'd been on the roof of her apartment building as a civilian, sketching away when she sensed him. She ducked out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by Chat Noir's baton. She jumped up and took a defensive stance as he put distance between them, glaring at her from where he was crouched on the roof.</p>
<p>"You," he hissed, toxic green eyes narrowed at Marinette. "You were working for <em>her</em> weren't you? You were her informant, her civilian aid. This is <em>all your fault."</em></p>
<p>She tilted her head. "What are you talking about Chat? Has all that destruction magic messed with your brain?"</p>
<p>He actually <em>growled</em> at her. "Don't you play dumb with me! I know you worked with Ladybug! Why else would she have trusted <em>you</em> to be a temp hero when she scorned all the others?" His eyes locked onto the mouse miraculous situated around her neck. "Even now she trusts you to hold a miraculous, yet she wants to take mine back! <em>Mine!</em> I was her partner for <em>years</em> and this is how she repays me? Leaving me parentless as she disappears from the public eye, refusing to acknowledge that we're meant to be!"</p>
<p>Marinette took a few steps back, watching him warily as he paced agitatedly in front of her on the roof. "From what I've heard wielding complimentary miraculous doesn't bind the wielders. Ladybug only punished Gabriel as was dictated by the rules of the Order, it wasn't her intention to leave you without a father."</p>
<p>His eyes locked on her with a laser-like focus. He wouldn't be swayed. "I won't listen to your lies. I will find her eventually, even if I have to go through <em>you</em> to do it." As he lunged towards her she quickly called for Mullo and transformed, barely managing to dodge him as he attacked. He was erratic in his attacks, more unpredictable than he had been in his instability. Marinette wasn't aiming to hurt him, she was aiming to get the ring back, and her distraction is what led to her injury. A vicious swipe of his claws connected with her right side just as she spied an opening, and as he was pulling his hand back, she was able to retrieve the ring and kick him away.</p>
<p>The wounds he'd inflicted were bleeding rather heavily, but there was no way for her to treat them with Adrien standing there, glaring at her with hatred contorting his features. There was no way she could continue to fight him in her condition, so she retreated to the edge of the roof as he stalked towards her. As she reached the edge, she paused, transformation failing as she glared at him in defiance. "You will never find her, not through me." His face expressed his shock as she stepped backwards off the roof, falling straight through a portal. She heard him scream in rage just before the portal closed, and then she was falling.</p>
<p>The portal had let out high above a large city, and injured as she was there was no way for Mari to stop her fall. She plummeted towards the ground, blood trailing from her wounds as she continued to fall. She could vaguely hear Kaalki, Tikki, Mullo, and Trixx freaking out about the situation, but her vision was becoming hazier with each passing second. Just as she closed her eyes, resigned to her fate, she felt another body collide with her own, strong arms wrapping around her as the person they were attached to swung them onto the nearest rooftop. The Kwami had hidden away when they sensed the man, and were now working to heal Marinette enough to keep her from dying. She managed to pry her eyes open just as her saviour looked down at her, taking her in for the first time.</p>
<p>It was Nightwing, and as recognition dawned on his face, he whispered her name in horror. Her blood was seeping through his costume, and she could sense his impending panic. She reached up slowly, body weak from her confrontation with Adrien, and gently stroked his face, looking up at him with a soft smile as he fought to bring his panic under control. "It's good to see you again, Bluebird." She barely registered his shock before she finally passed out, hand dropping back onto her chest as the stress of the night took its toll on her. The last thing she heard was his voice, desperately calling her name and begging her to hold on as he leapt off the roof with her in his arms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in progress!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of a woman falling from the sky, bleeding profusely as she fell from a height no civilian should have been able to reach. Catching the woman only to realize that it was <em>Marinette</em> who had been falling from the sky, severely injured when last he knew she was safe in Paris, nearly sent him spiraling. Her touch had managed to calm him momentarily, but her revelation that she <em>knew</em> had him panicking again. The only reason he hadn’t was because she had passed out and was still bleeding heavily.</p>
<p>He snapped out of his shock when her hand fell away from his face, gathering her as close as he could as he rushed off to the Batcave. E didn’t even want to <em>think</em> about what could’ve happened to Mari should he have been in Bludhaven when she fell from the sky. He realized dimly that the others were speaking to him through the comms, but he couldn’t respond. His sole focus was on getting Mari back to the cave where Alfred could help patch her up.</p>
<p>He made it back in record time.</p>
<p>Dick kept Mari pressed close to his chest as he hurried through the cave towards their medbay, calling for Alfred as he did. Babs and Jason had been waiting for him to get back, but the shock of him appearing covered in blood with a wounded girl in his arms kept them from speaking. As Alfred appeared beside him in the medbay he couldn’t take his eyes off of Marinette. He barely noticed Babs rolling away in her wheelchair to inform Bruce why Dick hadn’t been responding.</p>
<p>Jason came up beside him and stood with him as they watched Alfred treat her wounds. He was oddly silent as they watched Alfred reveal the injuries her shirt had been covering. They all took note of the strange nature of the wounds. It looked almost as though she’d gotten into a fight with a large, clawed animal. There was no way she should’ve been able to get such injuries naturally, she was more careful than that. Something had happened, <em>someone</em> had a hand in what happened to Mari, and Dick was determined to find out who.</p>
<p>When Mari was finally placed on one of their medical beds, bandages peeking out from under her clothing, Dick finally allowed himself to be pushed into the showers. He did his best to avoid looking at how the water turned red from Mari’s blood. He wanted to return to her bedside as soon as he was back in the main part of the cave, but was instead dragged back over to the briefing table where Bruce was waiting, having returned from patrol.</p>
<p>The questions began as soon as he sat down. “Who is she? Why bring her here instead of the hospital?”</p>
<p>“Her name is Marinette. She- she’s a friend of mine. From my days in the circus. Her grandma brought her to stay with the circus when she was four, and my parents agreed to train her. We performed together for almost three years before we were separated. I brought her here because she recognized me and I panicked. She’s supposed to be in Paris, safe, not here in Gotham injured.” Dick stared at his hands, avoiding the others' gazes.</p>
<p>“Where did you find her?”</p>
<p>“I found her along my patrol route, falling from the sky. I only realized it was her after I saved her.”</p>
<p>“You said she recognized you. Did you tell her?”</p>
<p>“No. I never told her about any of this. I didn’t want her to be involved.”</p>
<p>Jason snorted. “Like that did any good. She knew who you were ever since you put on the mask for the first time.”</p>
<p>Silence fell as they all stared at Jason, who as far as they knew had never met Marinette before. “And how would you know that?”</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes at them. “She told me. I’ve met her before.”</p>
<p>“What?” Mari had never mentioned meeting Jason before, so Dick was understandably confused.</p>
<p>“I’ve met her. She popped out of nowhere shortly after I took up the mantle. Showed up right in front of me when I was taking a break on my favorite gargoyle.”</p>
<p>They continued to stare at Jason, Dick being the one to ask the obvious question. “...And you never thought to mention this <em>why?”</em> </p>
<p>Jason shrugged, unperturbed. “She asked me not to.”</p>
<p>“Why did she approach you in the first place?”</p>
<p>“Because at the time Dick was still fighting with Bruce. She said that it wasn’t fair he was ignoring me because of his problems with B, told me he’d be devastated if something happened to me and that since he was too stubborn for her to change his mind, she’d watch over me instead.”</p>
<p>Babs chimed in then, looking up from the file she'd pulled on Mari. “And how did she manage that if she spends all her time in Paris? According to her file she’s never left the city. She shouldn’t have been able to find you, much less get to you.”</p>
<p>“She’s just cool like that I guess. Best sister a guy could ask for.”</p>
<p>Babs glared at Jason for that, going to retort before a voice cut her off. “Jason, don’t be rude.”</p>
<p>They all turned in the direction of the voice, staring in shock at the source. Marinette was awake.</p><hr/>
<p>Waking up in an unfamiliar place after being severely injured by someone who was meant to be your partner was pretty disorienting. She noticed that her injuries had been treated, in addition to the healing that Tikki and the other Kwami had been working on. Based on what she remembered from before she passed out, she could take a guess at where she'd ended up. Why Dick had brought her to the Batcave instead of the hospital, she could only assume he'd been overwhelmed and gone for what was familiar.</p>
<p>There was nobody in the room with her, though when she got up and wandered around a bit, ignoring the protests of the Kwami, she heard voices. Probably discussing her presence. Since there was nothing else for her to do besides go back to Paris, where there was a possibility of Adrien waiting for her, she moved towards the voices instead. The only person that seemed to notice her as she approached was Alfred, though he did nothing to give away her presence.</p>
<p>All eyes turned to her when she scolded Jason for his antagonistic comment. They seemed shocked to see her awake, which was understandable given the state of her injuries. They only snapped out of their shock when she slowly made her way over to their briefing table, Alfred helping her settle into a chair across from Dick and next to Jason, who was the first one to speak. "Sorry Mari. It's true though."</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes at him, ruffling his hair as Dick finally regained his voice. "You should still be resting, Mari."</p>
<p>"I know that, but the sooner we get the questions over with the sooner I can go take care of things. I'm sorry to intrude. I had hoped that we'd meet under better circumstances."</p>
<p>He continued to gaze at her in concern. He always was a bit of a mother hen. "What happened to you?"</p>
<p>She hesitated, debating over whether she should fess up or not. "How much do you know about the Hawkmoth Situation?" At the blank looks on their faces, she sighed. "Never mind, stupid question. I forgot that the mayor and I decided to keep it a secret. So up until a few months ago there was a super villain in Paris."</p>
<p>"What!?" Dick's outburst was predictable given Marinette had never made any mention of anything being wrong with Paris. Plus he hadn't seen anything odd during his time investigating the circus near the city, so his shock was understandable.</p>
<p>She waved a hand at him nonchalantly. "Settle down, it's fine. He went by Hawkmoth and he used people's negative emotions to turn them into monsters through the misuse of a magical artifact. In response, the city gained two heroes called Ladybug and Chat Noir. I was Ladybug. Chat eventually switched sides upon discovering that his father was the villain, though I continued to fight against them, finally defeating Hawkmoth a few months ago. I took back all the magical artifacts except for Chat's, and that was only because I couldn't find him. He thought that I used to help Ladybug gather evidence against Hawkmoth, and he came after me. I had no idea he was looking for me as me, so he caught me by surprise."</p>
<p>"Hold up. You were a hero? I thought you said you <em>weren't</em> one of Dicky-bird's hero friends?"</p>
<p>"Since he didn't know about it, I technically wasn't."</p>
<p>"Everything about you just makes so much more sense now."</p>
<p>Dick stared at her with sad eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"</p>
<p>She glanced away, feeling a bit guilty. "I knew that you didn't want me to be involved in this kind of thing. I figured I'd tell you once you confessed to being a vigilante." He flinched a bit at the unintentional jab, but she wouldn't apologize for it.</p>
<p>"What happened with your partner when he caught up to you?" Of course the bat would be the one to get things back on track.</p>
<p>"Oh! Well, we fought. I was aiming to take back his miraculous, and the only opening I saw was when he cut my side with his claws. I retrieved it, but was injured in the process. We were on a rooftop when we fought, so there was nowhere for me to go but down. I jumped off the building and fell through a portal that let out here, apparently, though it let out pretty high above the ground so if Dick hadn't caught me I would've been dead for sure."</p>
<p>"And your contact with Jason?"</p>
<p>"It's not like you guys were properly looking after him. I just made sure that he was safe and healthy, and I'm glad I did. If I hadn't he would've died in the middle of that Ethiopian warehouse all alone." Mentioning <em>that</em> got her looks of shock. Jason had never so much as hinted at who had helped him out. He was loyal like that.</p>
<p>Dick broke the silence, staring at Mari with disbelief. "You- you were the one who saved him? How did you even know he was in danger?"</p>
<p>"She gave me some magic bracelet that let her know when I was in trouble. Said she did the same thing for you when she found out about your debut as a vigilante."</p>
<p>Dick waved his arms about as he attempted to defend himself. "I thought it was just a normal bracelet! I've never seen her save me before!"</p>
<p>"That's because you weren't supposed to. You obviously wanted me to have nothing to do with that aspect of your life, so I made sure you never found out."</p>
<p>"And where did you get magic bracelets anyway?"</p>
<p>She stared at him with a deadpan expression. "Dick, I love you but sometimes you can be so incredibly dense. How do you think I got those magic bracelets? Or the journals, for that matter?"</p>
<p>"...You made them. I'm an idiot."</p>
<p>"Yes, yes you are." Her phone beeped, and checking it showed that she had a meeting she'd forgotten about. It was a pretty important one too. She knew she'd been forgetting something. She stood up carefully, pushing her chair back a bit. "Well, I should be getting back. I have to go to work in a few hours."</p>
<p>"But you're injured? And I thought you were still in school?"</p>
<p>"Graduated earlier. The injuries won't slow me down enough to warrant canceling the meeting. Seeya later guys!" A portal opened below her feet before they could protest, and then she was back in her apartment.</p>
<p>While meeting Dick's team had been interesting, she hadn't really appreciated the interrogation. It was a relief to be back in her apartment, though as she reached to grab an abandoned sketchbook off the coffee table she felt pain in her side and winced. While Alfred had done a remarkable job patching her up, he didn't have access to the sort of things that were needed to treat injuries imparted by a miraculous user. Though it would undoubtedly make her late for her meeting with Jagged, she had to take care of her injuries. As she pulled out her healing potions and salves she could only hope the bats didn't arrive to drag her back to Gotham too soon. There was no doubt they'd show up eventually, and with Adrien on the prowl she was going to have to be extra careful until they arrived.</p>
<p>She just hoped that they wouldn't cause her too much trouble when they <em>did</em> find her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dialogue isn't exactly my strong suit, but it's a necessity. Hope it turned out okay.</p>
<p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took her considerably less time than she thought it would for her to take care of her injuries. Of course, then she had to shower and change her clothes because, you know, <em>blood,</em> but she actually made pretty good time. She was still late to the meeting, but five minutes late is better than fifteen minutes late in her books.</p>
<p>Jagged was used to her lack of punctuality, so it was no big deal. If he noticed anything off he didn’t mention it, though with all the designs she had to distract him with her odd posture would be probably be overlooked. She appreciated Jagged’s enthusiasm, though it was a bit much to deal with when injured. Luckily Penny was around to help keep him in check for her. They were quick to get through the details of the commission, Marinette going back to her apartment as soon as the meeting was over. She had decided to forego normal modes of transportation until Adrien had been dealt with, which meant she was travelling almost exclusively by shadow.</p>
<p>She knew that some of the bats would arrive in the city sooner or later, after they'd had a sufficient amount of time to look into the Hawkmoth Situation. No doubt Dick and Jason were itching to have a chance to go after Chat Noir, though whether they would be able to discover his identity as Adrien she was unsure. The Kwami had likely removed the magical protections surrounding him after what he'd done to Mari, if they hadn't done so the moment they switched sides. As far as she knew nobody had been able to piece it together thus far, but he <em>had</em> been laying low, so there hadn't been many opportunities for people to see him in person.</p>
<p>The one thing she <em>did</em> know was that Adrien didn't know where she lived. Despite them literally fighting on the roof of her apartment building, he had no idea she was a resident there, and if he did he was unable to find out which apartment was hers. When she was officially emancipated she'd decided that she'd get her apartment under a false name, which was simple with the help of her clients. She hadn't wanted anybody to be able to find her easily, and she still had no idea how Adrien had found her. Either he'd gotten lucky and come across her by accident, he'd caught sight of her and tracked her back to the building, or someone had sold her out. The first option was unlikely due to the bad luck he'd been cursed with, which meant it had to have been one of the other two options.</p>
<p>She'd had very few interactions with her neighbors, her clients would never sell her out for fear of missing out on MDC exclusives, and she rarely left the house, so there was no way for her to tell for sure. Mari just wished that she had some way to pin him down. With the loss of the miraculous it would be easier for her, but she would have to wait until she'd healed sufficiently enough for her to be able to fight him. Between her salves, potions, and hoard of worried Kwami she would be surprised if she wasn't fully healed by the end of the week. Due to the wounds being caused by a miraculous wielder with intent to harm, they would leave some scarring behind, which was a bit annoying, but there wasn't much she could do about it.</p>
<p>As she settled in to her studio she forced herself to focus on her work. There wasn't anything she could do about her problems by overthinking them, and she didn't feel like working herself up for no reason. Her work was more important to her than obsessing over plans she couldn't even put into action for another week at the very least. There was no point worrying about when the bats would arrive either. The link between her bracelet and the bracelets she'd given to Dick and Jason would alert her as soon as they were in the city. Jason knew where she lived from his time staying with her while his injuries healed after she saved him, so she wouldn't need to go looking for them either. They would end up right on her doorstep and she wouldn't have to lift a finger.</p>
<p>She only felt a little guilty for ditching the meeting in favor of her work, which could've been put off until later if she was being honest. In her defense, Bruce was more intimidating than she'd initially anticipated, and while she was glad to see Dick and Jason again, she preferred to be safe at home when injured so severely. Not that the Batcave wasn't safe. It was probably one of the safest places on earth, but there weren't as many magical protections as she would've liked. Plus, none of them besides Dick and Jason had known of her existence before she'd been carried into the cave by a no doubt <em>very</em> frantic Nightwing. It had been a bit awkward for her, to say the least.</p>
<p>The boys arrived in Paris a few days after she portalled out of the Batcave. They seemed to be focusing on information gathering before they confronted her, from what she'd seen when she checked in on them. It was only Dick and Jason who'd been able to come, probably because they were the ones who actually knew her. By the time they finally showed up at her apartment she was almost completely healed. Their investigation into the Hawkmoth Situation was slower than she'd expected, but the mayor had put a lot of effort into burying it, so that was understandable. Unfortunately, as her old class were some of the most frequent akumas, this meant that they had talked to her classmates. Which meant that the information she'd purposefully been hiding from Dick was no longer hidden, as the class tended to blame her for just about everything.</p>
<p>The first thing that happened when she opened her door for the two of them was her being swept up into a crushing hug by Dick, though he made sure to avoid the injuries he'd seen the last they saw each other. She stumbled backwards into the apartment, Dick still latched onto her like an octopus as Jason followed them in and closed the door. Dick didn't release her for a solid five minutes at the least, and that was only because Jason pulled him away.</p>
<p>"Sorry about the octopus Mari. Couldn't stop him in time."</p>
<p>She let out a soft laugh. "It's alright Jaybird. He was way more clingy than this back in our circus days."</p>
<p>"Mari!" Dick's face reddened a bit at her words.</p>
<p>"What? You know it's true. We were almost never seen without each other after we met. People would stop and ask us if we were okay if we were alone. We were definitely more clingy than this."</p>
<p>He stared at her, trying to think of a way to deny it, but he couldn't. "...You make good points. Even if I want to deny it."</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and gestured for the two of them to sit her the living room. Jason had no issues making himself at home, having stayed with her for a long while during his recovery. "I'm kinda surprised you guys didn't raid my place earlier. Even with the investigation you conducted."</p>
<p>They looked at her in mild surprise. "You knew about that?"</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes. "This is my city. I'm magic. Of course I knew you were investigating. I knew the moment the two of you entered the city."</p>
<p>"I forgot how scary you can be sometimes Mari."</p>
<p>"Trust me, if Dicky-bird over here had his way your place would've been our first stop. B-man wanted us to investigate first, so I got the pleasure of keeping him in check."</p>
<p>Dick rolled his eyes. "Whatever little wing. You know you wanted to come over here first thing too." Jason looked like he was gearing up to argue, so Mari decided to steer them back on track.</p>
<p>"So! How was the investigation?"</p>
<p>"It was... something. A lot of the things we heard seemed pretty far-fetched. If there wasn't video evidence I would've guessed that the city had shared hallucinations. I can't believe you actually dealt with that all on your own."</p>
<p>"It's not like I had a choice. I was specifically chosen to be Ladybug, and there was no way for me to get out of it."</p>
<p>Both of the boys looked angry at that. Both of them had chosen to be vigilantes, and the thought of someone being forced into the life wasn't something they were happy with. "You mean someone <em>forced</em> you to be a hero?"</p>
<p>She waved off their anger. "It's in the past. It was for the best really. If I hadn't been chosen then some other poor inexperienced teenager would've been, and I doubt they would've been able to handle it. Anyways, did you have any questions for me about the situation?"</p>
<p>"What happened with the villain? Everyone we asked just said he got what he deserved."</p>
<p>"He is currently reliving the pain of all the people that were hurt or died due to his actions. He's in a comatose state until he's experienced all of their pain."</p>
<p>They seemed shocked at her statement, which was perfectly understandable. The only thing they did with their villains was put them away in Arkham. "...And that's possible <em>how?"</em></p>
<p>"It was just a standard punishment curse common in the Order of the Miraculous. The Kwami wanted to do worse." She wasn't joking about that. They had wanted to do <em>way</em> worse than what Mari had ended up doing.</p>
<p>"Okay then. I'm just not going to ask. I don't think I wanna know."</p>
<p>"Mari... when we were investigating, we talked to a lot of people from some class referred to as the 'Akuma Class.' They talked about you. A lot." Mari sighed as she averted her eyes. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were having problems with your classmates?"</p>
<p>She fiddled with her hands as she avoided looking right at him. "I didn't want you to worry. If you found out then there was a good chance you'd drop everything to come see me, and if you came to visit then you would've found out about the Hawkmoth Situation. I didn't want you to have to get involved when you had enough to worry about. I got lucky when you brought your team on an unsanctioned mission to investigate the circus. Hawkmoth was on a business trip, and he didn't get back until after you left."</p>
<p>"Mari..." She glanced up, only to be met with Dick's sad eyes.</p>
<p>She averted her gaze once again. "It's fine. I dealt with it, and it's all in the past now." He obviously didn't believe that based on the way he stood from his seat and moved to pull her into another long hug.</p>
<p>Jason cleared his throat. "So if you two lovebirds are done, we should talk shop."</p>
<p>They released each other, blushes on their faces as Dick reclaimed his seat. Marinette could guess what they needed to talk about. It was the reason she'd ended up wounded in Gotham after all. "So I'm guessing you guys want to know more about the Chat Noir situation, right?" They both glanced at her right side, where the claw marks had mostly healed, grim expressions of determination on their faces as they nodded. "As I'm sure you've heard, he was my partner for a time. He was chosen by the previous Guardian, and despite my initial misgivings he was pretty helpful for a time. The problem was that he became obsessed with the idea of Ladybug. He was convinced that the two of us were meant to be together, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. He slowly stopped helping me during battles, sometimes not even showing up. Things escalated when he started to actively hinder me during battle, when he joined Hawkmoth, who had turned out to be his father. When Hawkmoth was defeated, Chat basically dropped off the face of the earth. He moved around too much for me to pin down, and I hadn't seen any sign of him aside from my scrying until he confronted me on the roof." Silence followed her explanation as the boys thought about what she'd said.</p>
<p>"He sounds like a real asshole." For a kid obsessed with literature, that wasn't a very eloquent way to break the silence.</p>
<p>"Jason! Language!" Dick's scolding barely seemed to register with the kid. Jason just rolled his eyes at him.</p>
<p>She cut in before they could get in an argument. "He's right though. I plan on tracking him down and punishing him for misusing the miraculous now that I've reclaimed the cat from him, but I was waiting until I was fully healed. I should be able to safely confront him in a few days, and now that you're here I'm guessing you guys are going to want to help out."</p>
<p>"Am I allowed to shoot him?"</p>
<p>"Jason!"</p>
<p>"It wouldn't <em>kill</em> him. Besides, I need to practice my marksmanship."</p>
<p>"I'll let you shoot him if you promise to use rubber bullets."</p>
<p>"Deal." Dick shook his head at the two of them, but he reluctantly expressed his agreement. It was settled. In a few days, they would go looking for Adrien, and he wouldn't know what hit him. Besides Jason's rubber bullets of course. His attempts to evade her were about to come to an end.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the boys on board, Adrien never stood a chance. He’d made the mistake of returning to Agreste Manor less than a day after Marinette’s wounds had healed enough for her to be able to fight. Her best guess was that he’d hoped there was some stuff he could use to go after her there.</p><p>He hadn’t been expecting Marinette to bust into the room as Multimouse with Nightwing and Jason, who had yet to decide on a new name. Adrien had probably been in the manor for less than ten minutes when they’d cornered him. Without the miraculous, there was no chance of him winning. He’d always scoffed at her when she suggested he take up fighting classes, always relying heavily on the power of the cat miraculous to get him through battles.</p><p>Jason had shot him four times with his rubber bullets before he could even turn around, one to the back of each knee and the other two to soft spots on his back. Before he could recover from the shots, Dick hit him with his escrima sticks, sending him to his knees. Mari took the opportunity to tie him up with her jump rope before he could get up, delivering a punch to his face for good measure. And just like that, Adrien was subdued, completely at their mercy. Dick and Jason flanked her as she stood in front of Adrien, who glared up at them.</p><p><em>"Marinette,"</em> he spat out with as much venom as he could muster, glaring at her with his toxic green eyes. "I see you survived the blood loss. I was expecting you to come back around eventually, but I never expected you to get <em>goons</em> to back you up."</p><p>"You mean you don't recognize them? I'm surprised considering you were stuck listening to Alya's hero rant so many times. I thought with all the time you'd spent around her and Nino you'd be able to recognize an established vigilante when you saw one, but I've been wrong before." As Adrien's smug expression faltered, face paling as he finally paid more attention to her two companions, Marinette let her lips quirk up in a subtle smirk. "I'm <em>especially</em> surprised that you can't recognize members of the batclan when you see them. Especially when these two with me are former Robins."</p><p>Sweat beaded on his forehead as he scrambled for something to say. He obviously remembered Alya's tales of the Gotham vigilantes, if his sudden nerves were anything to go by. "So what? The bats don't have any jurisdiction here, and neither do you. The only ones that can legally come after me are Ladybug and the police, and I don't see either of them." He gained confidence as he spoke, and by the end, he was smirking. He still seemed a little nervous, however, which was all Mari needed to see to know he didn't have anything up his sleeve to get them out.</p><p>She made sure to keep her expression unaffected even as Jason and Dick glared at the former cat. "Well unfortunately for you, I'm here on official business with permission from the bug herself. She'd have come, but she's currently on business elsewhere. I've been sent as a proxy, so I will be the one administering your punishment as a member of the Order of the Miraculous."</p><p>He hadn't been expecting that. "You- you can't do anything to me! There's no way Ladybug would let you into the order! She's never told anyone about it, not even <em>me</em> when we were still on the same side." He considered her for a moment, trying to determine whether she was bluffing. He didn't know her well enough to know for sure. "I doubt that you actually know how to invoke the power of the Order. There's nothing you can do."</p><p>A smirk spread across her face as she responded. "That's where you're wrong <em>Adrien."</em> She didn't give him any time to retort, immediately shifting her stance as she cursed him. He passed out immediately, and upon waking would remember nothing of the miraculous. She had decided with the Kwami that it would be best for him to forget ever being Chat Noir, forget everything he'd ever learned about the miraculous. His luck would be even worse than before, and he would feel the pain of the wounds he'd inflicted upon anyone he'd ever hurt whenever he so much as <em>thought</em> about doing something that the Kwami wouldn't approve of. There had been a lot of debate over what they should curse him with exactly, but from what they knew taking knowledge of the miraculous and forcing them to feel the pain of their victims was a common practice when the Order was still established.</p><p>Marinette released Adrien from her rope and led the boys back to her apartment. If Jason turned back to shoot him again... well. It's not like she had seen him do it. She explained the punishment to the slightly confused boys when they had safely returned to her apartment unseen. While they would obviously rather have Adrien stuck in jail, or just anywhere that was far away from her, really, they respected her decision. Paris was still technically Ladybug's jurisdiction, so while they were there they would follow her lead. Not that they planned to stay in the city for long. They had to return to the states soon, but it didn't seem like they were willing to leave until they'd managed to convince her to go with them.</p><p>She'd actually been considering moving to the states for a while, but with Adrien running around with the miraculous she hadn't wanted to risk it. Now that he was taken care of, however, there was no real reason for her to stay in Paris. Not that she was going to let them know that. It was rather amusing to see them try to out-bribe each other. They were also debating over where she should go if she <em>did</em> accompany them back to the states. Dick wanted her to stay in Bludhaven, as that was where he lived and worked. Jason, on the other hand, wanted her to stay in Gotham and join up with the batclan. She didn't know which would be better, honestly. Not that it mattered where she decided to live when she could just teleport to either place whenever needed.</p><p>"C'mon Mari! <em>Please</em> come stay in the states with us! Nobody here appreciates you besides your clients, and if you come back with us we'll get you whatever you want!"</p><p>She rolled her eyes at the two of them. "You've been trying to convince me for three days without even asking my opinion on the matter. I was already planning on moving you morons. I just don't know where I'll live yet. I had plans to move before we even reconnected, I just had to take care of Adrien first."</p><p>They stared at her for a while before Dick dragged her into a hug, lifting her off the ground in his excitement. Jason tried to play it off, but she knew he was excited for her to return with them as well. They were due to leave the next day, though they'd arrived via zeta so there was no real rush. She'd had a great time dragging them around the city as they wasted time before they had to return. When it was finally time to leave, instead of going to the zeta Mari just asked Kaalki to open a portal straight to the Batcave for them. She'd be leaving the box in her Paris apartment until she decided where she wanted to live, and she didn't have to worry about its safety because her apartment was under a <em>lot</em> of protections, both technological and magical.</p><p>They arrived in the Batcave in no time at all, and from there they wandered up into Wayne Manor, which she hadn't been able to see the last time she was there. She got to formally meet Alfred and Bruce, which was nice. Bruce seemed a bit suspicious of her, but there was nothing she could do about that other than show him she could be trusted. The bats hadn't been idle while Dick and Jason spent time with her in Paris, and that night they got a bit of a surprise upon entering the Batcave. Bruce had somehow managed to pick up another child, one that wasted no time in coming up to them and fanboying.</p><p>"Oh my gosh! You're Dick Grayson, the original Robin! And you're Jason Todd! You were the second Robin! It's so great to meet you both! You were so inspiring during your time as Robin!" The dumbfounded looks on the boys' faces when confronted with the new kid were priceless.</p><p>"And... you are?"</p><p>"Oh! I'm Tim Drake, the new Robin."</p><p>That snapped the boys out of their shock, Dick immediately turning to confront the bat as Jason glared. "What?! B! Why didn't you mention this?!"</p><p>"That would be because young Master Tim blackmailed him for the position." Alfred's statement didn't seem like something Bruce wanted them to know, if the exasperated sigh was anything to go by.</p><p>Jason laughed a bit at that. "Wait, really? The big bad bat got blackmailed by a kid into letting them be a Robin?"</p><p>"Isn't it hilarious?" Babs had arrived. The boys converged on Bruce, who looked done with the whole situation, so Mari turned her attention to the new kid.</p><p>"It's nice to meet you Tim. I'm Marinette, I was in the circus with Dick when we were younger. Did you figure out who the bats were by yourself?"</p><p>His eyes widened at her words, and he turned his excitement on her. "Yeah, I figured it out because of Dick's quadruple summersault." The way he said that made it seem like anyone could've figured it out, when tons of others had failed before him. "You were Cardinal? You were amazing! The performance you gave a few years ago was incredible, it's so great to meet you! Do you work as a vigilante too?" His research must've been <em>extremely</em> thorough if he knew about the things she'd done as Cardinal. Especially once she and Haly had started burying information to hinder Adrien's investigations.</p><p>"Not quite. I was a hero in Paris until a little while ago, but if Jason has his way I'll probably be joining the crew eventually." This caught Tim's interest, and he asked her all kinds of questions about what had happened in Paris, and he seemed amazed that she knew magic. He was a nice kid, and based on his parent's hands-off parenting approach, he'd end up being a victim of Bruce's adopting habit soon enough. Not that it seemed like he'd have a problem with that. The two of them ignored the bickering going on between the bats as they conversed, and Mari decided that if Bruce didn't adopt the kid then she would.</p><p>Nobody should have to deal with neglectful parents, and Mari would make sure that Tim had the support he needed now that she'd met him. She'd done it for Jason, she'd do it for Tim. And if he ended up as her adopted brother/son, all the better. The kid could definitely use some support now that he'd joined the batclan, and Mari would make sure he got it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! The next one is in progress!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette <em>did</em> end up going on patrol with the bats that night. If she hadn’t, there probably would’ve been quite a few “accidents” along the routes. She’d made sure to keep Tim in her sights at all times, already thinking of what charm she should get to represent him when she made him his magic bracelet. It seemed like it was going to become a tradition at this point, giving magic bracelets to the Robins.</p><p>She didn’t have a normal costume for the patrol, and she wasn’t looking to become an established Gotham vigilante just yet, so when she went out she used the fox miraculous. Her transformation with the fox was geared towards stealth, which made it the best miraculous to use at the time. The magic involved had seemed to excite Tim, who had a million questions about it once he’d seen her transform. She was happy to humor him, already fond of the kid.</p><p>She became even more fond of him when she found out he was a fan of her design work. Hearing him gush about her stuff had been a bit embarrassing, but she was happy that he enjoyed her designs so much. If he was suddenly at the top of her priority list commission-wise, nobody needed to know.</p><p>The patrol had gone smoothly, though Mari had a feeling something not so good was going to happen soon, which was bad. Gifting Tim his magic bracelet made her feel a bit better, as did the new charm on her bracelet that would alert her if he needed help. The charm was of a cup of coffee, as she’d found out the kid was almost obsessed with the stuff. Trick Tim into a normal-ish sleep schedule was added to her list of things to do while in Gotham. Alfred was in on it.</p><p>Dick and Jason had been a bit miffed at the presence of a new Robin, but Mari had made sure that they got over it. She made sure Dick went into excited older brother mode, as he’d always wanted a large family, so he warmed up to Tim pretty quickly. Jason had been harder to persuade, but comparing Tim’s experience with hers had gotten the reluctant agreement that he would play nice. He’d still be his usual smart-ass self, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to be an asshole. That was more than she’d hoped for, honestly.</p><p>He still ended up calling him Replacement, which Mari could do without, but as his tone typically had a hint of teasing in it when he used the nickname, she’d allowed it.</p><p>When it came time to choose where she would live, she decided that she'd live with Dick in Bludhaven. There were multiple reasons for it, the main one being that he had almost no idea how to properly take care of himself. She had no idea how he'd survived alone for so long after splitting off from the bats to start his own thing in Gotham. Seriously. If he had his way he'd probably eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At least if she was in the same city she could make sure he wouldn't just up and die of malnutrition.</p><p>He wasn't the only one either. She was pretty sure that without Alfred all of the bats would be in the same situation as Dick, with the exception of Barbara. How so many people with so little regard for their health had ended up under one roof she was a mystery. The worst part was that she honestly wasn't much better. The Kwami often had to remind her to take breaks and eat, though she sometimes remembered before they could remind her. There was also the fact that she'd jumped off a roof while severely injured with no guarantee she would survive. If she was being honest she would admit that she hadn't known Kaalki was going to open a portal, but there was no way she would ever dare admit such a thing around so many protective vigilantes. They would wrap her up in bubble wrap and refuse to let her out of the house.</p><p>There was no way Marinette would allow them to do such a thing, however, so the finer details of her confrontation with Chat Noir went unmentioned. She instead focused on looking for a new apartment in Bludhaven for her and Dick to share, because his current one wasn't quite big enough for the both of them. Well, it was actually a decent size, and with their complete disregard for personal space where the other was involved, it would've been fine. The problem was that it was almost guaranteed that they would receive constant visits from the younger birds now that Mari was there to stay, and they wouldn't have the space for that. Finding a nice apartment was easy, getting Dick to agree on it was harder. With all the money Mari had made from commissions they could pretty much afford to live everywhere. Problem was that Dick didn't want her to pay for it. He didn't really use Bruce's money that much, wanting to be self-sufficient, and as a cop he didn't have a great salary, which is the reason he lived in a small apartment in the first place.</p><p>It took her a while, but she eventually won the argument by pulling out her puppy dog eyes, the one thing in the world Dick could never say no to. He had been a bit bitter about it, but he <em>did</em> like the apartment she'd picked out for the two of them. It had more than enough space to accommodate for their rather frequent visitors, of which there were more than she'd initially anticipated. They fell into a routine easily, used to living with each other after all that time they'd spent together in the circus. She'd introduced Dick to all the Kwami once she'd retrieved the box from her apartment in Paris, which she would be keeping just in case. With her status as a fashion designer, she never knew when she might have to go back to Paris, and staying at a hotel was never fun, so apartment it was.</p><p>The two of them made sure not to intervene in each other's work unless it was an emergency. Since Dick was a cop, he could be injured at any time, which Mari was fully prepared for thanks to her frankly unnecessarily large medkit. His patrols as Nightwing also led to sporadic injury, so much so that eventually she just decided it would be better for her to patrol with him to help out. She'd missed being able to traverse the rooftops as she had as Ladybug back in Paris, but there hadn't been a reason for her to use the miraculous regularly, so she hadn't for quite a while. Ladybug was exclusive to Paris, however, which meant that she'd be going by Ladybird as her moniker instead. It was close enough to Ladybug that she would respond to it, and it would help tie her in as part of the batfam.</p><p>People were a bit suspicious of her at first due to how all other members of the batclan started out with Batman himself, whereas she was starting with Nightwing, but they eventually got over it. The prevailing theory for why Nightwing and not Batman was that she and Nightwing were actually lovers. Hearing about <em>that</em> theory from an amused Tim had been pretty awkward for the two of them, as they'd been skirting around Mari's kind-of-confession ever since it'd happened. In her defense, she'd still been a bit out of it from the blood loss, but she <em>had</em> meant it. There was nobody in the world that knew more about her than Dick, and even though they'd been separated for years, she'd still developed feelings for him. Her feelings for him are probably how she'd ended up in Gotham while he was patrolling in the first place. Kaalki's portals could take you to places based on a pictured location, coordinates, or feeling, and all Mari had wanted at the time was to feel safe. The only person she'd ever felt even remotely safe with was Dick, which is likely how she'd ended up falling from the sky along his patrol route. He could've been anywhere in the world and she'd still have ended up near him upon exiting the portal.</p><p>Despite their (obvious to others) mutual feelings, the two didn't end up talking about it until some they ran into Lila of all people at a Wayne Gala they'd been invited to attend. How she'd gotten in, they didn't know for sure, but if they had to guess she'd probably latched onto someone as their plus one. Marinette had actually been rather excited for the event, as had Dick who normally hated galas. She hadn't expected to see anyone she'd known in Paris at the gala, so hearing Lila's unpleasantly fake tone was unwelcome to say the least.</p><p>"Oh my gosh, is that Marinette? It's been so long so I've seen you!"</p><p>Marinette turned around and glanced at her warily. She'd been talking with Jason, who really did <em>not</em> want to be there, and didn't appreciate the interruption. "Lila." While she made sure to keep her voice level, some of her displeasure must've shown on her face, as she noticed Jason tense a bit in her periphery.</p><p>"Where have you been? Nobody's seen you since before winter break, not even your parents. Everybody's been saying you disappeared." Her false concern gave way to a smug smirk. "Those that have noticed, anyways. We all thought you'd finally gone and killed yourself."</p><p>"Well, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine. I graduated early and focused on my career, which is part of why I'm here tonight. You, on the other hand, I don't recall seeing on the guest list."</p><p>Lila stiffened a bit before forcing a laugh. "You're so funny! Like there's any way <em>you</em> of all people could be close enough with the Wayne family to see the guest list. I doubt that you're a prominent enough in the fashion world to warrant an invite, unlike my fiancé."</p><p>"Like anyone would want to marry a gold-digger like you. I'm surprised the guy can stand the sight of your face, buried under makeup as it is." Jason's blunt statements obviously didn't sit well with Lila, who place a hand over her extremely exposed chest as she gasped in offense.</p><p>"How dare you! Who do you think you are? I'll have you know the Waynes all love me, so I can get you kicked out of her in a heartbeat."</p><p>Mari and Jason shared a look before they started laughing. They tried to keep their laughter under control, but it was loud enough to draw the attention of some of the aforementioned Waynes, though Dick was the first to start making his way over.</p><p>"Why are you laughing! I really do know them, unlike you <em>Marinette.</em> I bet you slept your way into an invitation you- you <em>slut."</em> At that word everybody in the vicinity froze. She'd said it just as Dick had entered hearing range, and from the murderous aura he was exuding, one even stronger than Jason's, Lila had made a huge mistake.</p><p>"What did you just call her?" His voice was ice cold as he stepped up next to Marinette, wrapping an arm around her waist as he glared daggers at a suddenly nervous Lila.</p><p>Jason was more than happy to confirm it for him, also glaring at the liar. "Lie-la over here just referred to our dear Mari as a slut, big bird."</p><p>"That's what I thought." The two boys glared at Lila, who had been preparing to flee the scene. She froze in her tracks when she noticed Bruce Wayne himself starting to make his way over, her date nowhere in sight. "I don't recall seeing your name on the guest list, Ms. Rossi."</p><p>"I- I'm here with my fiancé." At Dick's blatantly unimpressed expression Lila scrambled for a lie that would impress him. "I'm friends with the Waynes! They invited me, but they didn't want me to be crowded for knowing them so they didn't put my name on the list." She had gained confidence while piecing together her lie, but it all shattered at Dick's next words.</p><p>"That's funny. If you're friends with the Waynes, how didn't you recognize two of them when they were <em>standing right in front of you?"</em></p><p>"Wh- what?" She asked meekly, shrinking back into herself as she looked around for the Waynes she'd supposedly failed to recognize.</p><p>"Name's Jason Todd-Wayne. The guy you just blatantly lied to is Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's oldest adopted son." And just like that, Jason's casual introductions brought Lila's tower of lies crumbling down. She was too shocked to speak as people around them whispered amongst themselves, Bruce arriving just as Lila seemed like she was about to recover the ability to speak.</p><p>"What's going on over here?" Seeing as his children were too busy glaring at Lila to give him an answer, he resorted to the one person who seemed to have heard him and would give him an unbiased account of the events. "Mari?"</p><p>"It's just an old classmate of mine stirring up trouble. She insinuated some rather insulting things about me that they boys didn't appreciate, and to get out of it she claimed to know the Wayne family. What she failed to notice was that she was speaking to two of you, and now she's too shocked to say anything about it. You might want to step in before the boys commit a murder." The last part she made sure to whisper to him. They didn't need gossip of how the Wayne kids were all cold-blooded killers.</p><p>Bruce didn't even bother trying to confirm, trusting Mari enough to know she wouldn't lie to him. Security was called and Lila was escorted out, though she wasn't going to be let off the hook that easily. As soon as Tim heard about what'd happened Mari had seen him whip out his phone, and she knew that Lila was officially screwed. Tim would dig up all the dirt he could find on the liar, and get Babs to dig up even more. A quick phone call to the people she'd lied about and the Wayne Lawyers and Lila would be no more.</p><p>The only thing left to address was Dick's reaction to Lila's unflattering words about Mari. They couldn't talk about it in public, but they knew there was no escaping it once they got back to the manor. There was no way for them to keep dancing around the subject anymore. They were going to have to talk about their feelings for each other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've posted at least once a day for like 50 days now and I don't know how to feel about it.</p><p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm working on the next one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They didn’t talk about it until they were in the relative safety of Marinette’s room in the manor. The rest of the gala had been a bit awkward after Lila was kicked out, but they’d managed to pull everything together and pretend everything was fine. There had been an almost unnoticeable tension between them until they’d finally shut the door of the room, Mari using a simple spell to make sure they wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.</p><p>She looked up at him with curiosity, head slightly tilted. “So, you want to tell me why you were so mad back there?”</p><p>He glanced away, then back at her. He wouldn't meet her gaze. “You know why. She was making faceless accusations against you, and you don’t deserve that.”</p><p>She rolled her eyes as she moved closer to him, forcing him to look at her. “Dick, you looked like you wanted to skin her. Your homicidal glare was stronger than Jason’s, which is quite the accomplishment.”</p><p>He made an indignant noise at that. “I wouldn’t have skinned her! Just, you know... made sure she wouldn’t be able to bother you anymore.” Because that was convincing. He never could lie to her, as she couldn't lie to him.</p><p>She sighed, crossing her arms and looking at him, unimpressed. “Dick.”</p><p>He sighed. “I don’t know Mari. I heard her say that about you and it just made me so, so <em>angry.</em> Even though you were trying to hide it I could tell you were upset about it, and she was practically gloating in your face for no reason. We saw her before during our investigation into the Hawkmoth Situation, but we didn’t know she was the one who turned everyone against you.” She looked away, not wanting to think about her old class. Even though they hadn’t really been friends, their betrayal had still hurt her, and it was plainly visible on her face. Dick reached out and gently tilted her chin up, waiting for her to look him in the eyes before he continued. “I love you too much to stand by as people try to hurt you.”</p><p>His hand moved away from her chin to gently cup her cheek, and she leaned into his touch as she searched his eyes for any hint of a lie. There was none. “I love you too.” She smiled even as happy tears welled up in her eyes, eyes slipping closed as Dick leaned down to press their foreheads together, using his thumb to gently wipe away the single tear that managed to escaped. He pulled away for a second to examine her, before leaning in and connecting their lips together in a chaste kiss.</p><p>He pulled away after a second, and the both of them locked gazes before they both leaned in to meet in another kiss, this one deeper than the last. Any hesitance they might've had was washed away at the realization that they both wanted it, that their feelings were mutually reciprocated. When they broke apart it was due to a lack of air, both of them reluctant to break away. They stared at each other, blushes heating up their faces as they regained their breath. Dick was the first one to break the silence.</p><p>"Well, it looks like some of those theories turned out to be true. Who'd have thought?"</p><p>Mari giggled, slapping him lightly on the arm. "I'm sure everyone else would say it was only a matter of time. But seriously, does this mean you want us to be a thing?"</p><p>"More than anything."</p><p>"Then it looks like it's official. We're now partners, in more than one sense of the word." She winked at him, getting a chuckle for her efforts as he smiled at her, scooping her up into a bone-crushing hug. He spun her around a few times, planting a kiss on her cheek before finally setting her gently back on the ground. It was late at that point, and they weren't expected to stay at the manor overnight due to the fact that Dick had to work the next day, so Mari portalled them home and they parted to get ready for bed. They wouldn't be patrolling, which was nice, as it allowed them to get more sleep than usual.</p><p>While the two of them had separate rooms, they had often ended up sleeping in the same room. Saying they had separation issues was a bit of an understatement. They had refrained from sleeping in the same bed, but now that they were officially dating, they threw that restraint out the window. As soon as the both of them were ready for bed they met up in Dick's room and plopped down on the bed, Dick immediately curling himself around Mari's small form as he often had back in the circus. They fit together like two puzzle pieces, just like they remembered.</p><p>The next morning they got some teasing texts from some of the other members of the batfam, as well as an update on how much dirt Tim had dug up on Lila. There was so much there that Mari was certain he hadn't slept the previous night. She didn't doubt that once Babs got on the case there would be little chance of Lila being able to show her face in public ever again, if she wasn't imprisoned, that is. They'd let her off easy the previous night, but it wouldn't last long. Nobody messed with a bat and got away with it.</p><p>She noticed that Tim had also been digging up some info on her other classmates, all of which were still in school. Mari hadn't expected him to go all in when he started his research, but she supposed she should've known better. That kid researched things to an almost excessive extent. Even she didn't do quite that much research, mainly because if she did she'd probably be walking around as a permanent coffee-fueled zombie, but that wasn't the point. It was clear that he had been plotting against her old classmates, probably had been since he first learned of her background, but she didn't know what exactly he was planning, so she couldn't do anything about it.</p><p>Mari chose to ignore the very obvious plotting going on in favor of enjoying her new official relationship with Dick, who was more than happy to drag her off on spontaneous dates whenever and wherever possible. So they were a little excited. To be fair, they had been separated for a long time after spending every single day together for close to four whole years, so in a sense they were just making up for lost time. The boys often teased them about it, and both of them had given Dick a shovel talk, which had been extremely entertaining. They had teamed up for it, and while Mari wished they could work together civilly for more than just threatening people close to her, she was glad they were able to set aside their differences at all.</p><p>Neither of them had been expecting it when the two birds had shown up in Bludhaven and found them during a patrol, aiming their weapons at a confused Nightwing as Ladybird hid her laughter behind her hand. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, Jason waving his guns about threateningly as Tim brandished his bo-staff. Jason had finally decided on a new name, and he'd gone with one that would maximize Bruce's exasperation: Red Hood. He'd also designed his own costume, which was mostly okay except for the absolutely atrocious helmet he insisted on wearing. Not like he needed it when he wore a second mask underneath. And people said that Dick was dramatic.</p><p>She supposed Jason had to have gotten it from somewhere.</p><p>Jason and Tim glared at Dick as Jason finally spoke. "Heard you finally asked the girl out. You know what that means."</p><p>"Is this- ? Am I being given a shovel talk? By my own kin?" Dick's look of confused betrayal was amazing. Mari discretely took a picture while attempting to keep herself from laughing.</p><p>"You bet your ass you are. You hurt our precious sister Mari and you won't live to regret it. I own more types of bullets than just these rubber ones." He held up a clip of ammo to emphasize his point, clicking the safety off his gun as he did.</p><p>Tim added his own threats, of course. "And <em>I</em> can ruin you. Completely. My tech skills are better than yours and Babs will side with us if you hurt her."</p><p>"Are we clear?"</p><p>"Yes...?"</p><p>"Good. You better take good care of her." And then they were gone, on their way back to the Batcave no doubt. As soon as they'd cleared the roof Mari had burst into laughter. Dick had looked at her in complete and utter bewilderment, and he looked so similar to a kicked puppy that she hadn't been able to stifle her laughter any longer.</p><p>"...Did that just happen?" She nodded, wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to get her laughter under control. Dick seemed a little offended at her laughter, but it was overshadowed by his amusement. "I guess my family likes you more than they like me. Those two don't team up for just anyone." Mari broke down laughing again, and this time Dick joined her. The <em>did</em> have to continue their patrol, however, so they eventually got themselves under control enough finish up their route before returning to their apartment.</p><p>Word of the birds' shovel talk circulated throughout the hero community, and it became a bit of a trend. Dick's friends ended up dropping by at various points, and while each of them had initially come over to give <em>Mari</em> the shovel talk for Dick, things had always ended in them giving one to him for her instead. It was hilarious for Marinette, though Dick pouted about it for a good while. It was especially funny when someone got partway through giving Mari a shovel talk only for her to meet and ease all of their concerns, at which point they would switch to giving Dick the shovel talk instead. The boys had gotten a good laugh out of that one. They'd laughed about it for so long that Marinette had almost been concerned for their health. They had bonded over it a bit though, which was nice.</p><p>The shovel talks had taken place over the course of a month, over which time Tim and Babs had continued to dig up dirt on the people that had hurt Mari back in Paris, and by the end of that month, they had all the information that they'd wanted. They finally let Mari and Dick in on the plan, which involved the entirety of the batfam to stay in Paris for a brief period of time, though with Kaalki they would be able to travel back and forth for vigilante business when necessary. It looked like there would be a confrontation or two soon, and while Mari didn't want to see any of them, she was glad that she'd finally be able to put everything behind her. Plus, she had Dick and the rest of the Waynes to back her up.</p><p>Before she knew it she was on a private jet with the others, on her way back to Paris. She'd prefer a portal, but there was official Wayne Enterprises to take care of as well, and while the Waynes were known to back the Justice League, they weren't known to have access to zeta tubes or other methods of teleportation. So normal transportation it was. As she sat next to Dick, head leaned on his shoulder as they looked over some old pictures of the two of them Tim had somehow dug up, she could only hope that things would go smoothly, but nothing was certain where her class was concerned. They had been dubbed the Akuma Class for a reason, after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So over the course of the past 24ish hours there was a sudden influx of interest in my fics stemming from <em>Willingly Kidnapped,</em> which was confusing as all hell considering I released it like three weeks ago. I eventually found the source of the sudden influx of people, but it was confusing nonetheless. I don't know of anybody ever sharing one of my fics before, so that was new.</p><p>I almost didn't finish this on time on account of my being dragged outside to look at a comet, which was interesting.</p><p>Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The flight to Paris was longer than any of them would’ve preferred, but it was necessary. Mari was just grateful that there weren’t any big fights or problems for the duration of the trip. If somebody had started something she would’ve asked Kaalki to get her out of there, arriving through official channels be damned.</p><p>They split up after they landed, Mari going to her apartment with Dick while the others went to stay in a Wayne-owned penthouse elsewhere in the city. Because <em>of course</em> they would have a place in Paris. She would’ve been more surprised if they <em>didn’t</em> have one. Though if they hadn’t before they probably would’ve just bought one. All of them were a bit too paranoid to stay in a hotel for any significant length of time, so if they told her they’d bought out a penthouse just so they didn’t have to stay in a hotel, she wouldn’t be surprised.</p><p>The actual confrontation wouldn't happen for a couple days, so Marinette took advantage of their free time to drag all the Waynes around the city, pointing out her favorite places. They'd been spotted a few times, and there was speculation over why the Wayne family would be in Paris, though none of the theories was completely true. The one that came the closest was the one that guessed they were there on business, with a possibility of legal action. There had been murmurings of someone that had gotten on their bad side ever since Lila was kicked out of the Wayne Gala, though nobody knew they were there for her. Her name hadn't even been in any of the gossip, as she hadn't been high-profile enough for people to actively take notice of. Mari got a real kick out of that. Lila <em>thrived</em> on attention, and being denied attention, even negative, was probably extremely frustrating for her.</p><p>A few days after their arrival everything was finally ready for the initial confrontation. The Akuma Class was called into the auditorium, where the Waynes were waiting with Marinette. Nobody knew the truth about what was going on, not the headmaster nor the class's teacher. They remained out of sight until the entire class was situated in the room, making sure that all possible exits were blocked off so the students couldn't try to run from the confrontation. They had lawyers on standby, and they were taping the proceedings so they could alert the parents as to what their children had been up to.</p><p>Bruce was the first one to make himself known, appearing silently from backstage just as the confused headmaster announced his presence. His face was stone cold, no trace of emotion visible. The class wasn't expecting his appearance. As far as they knew there would be zero reason for any of the various members of the Wayne family to grace them with their presence, least of all the patriarch himself. There was a small scattering of hesitant applause as Bruce came to stand near the edge of the stage. "So this is the infamous 'Akuma Class.' I seem to recall the reports stating you had one more students than you do currently. Where <em>is</em> your esteemed class president?" His question was met with complete and utter silence, all of the students sensing a trap, one that they knew had to be triggered. It took a few minutes, but eventually Lila was offered up to spring the trap. She was the new class president, after all. Chloe had transferred schools shortly after the Miracle Queen incident, otherwise the position likely would've fallen to her.</p><p>"Oh, you mean Marinette? It's so strange, she just... <em>disappeared</em> sometime during winter break. Nobody's seen her since. It's for the best, really. She did nothing but cause trouble and discord amongst the class."</p><p>"Really. I seem to recall that <em>you</em> encountered her a short while ago Ms. Rossi."</p><p>"O-oh yeah! It was such an honor to be invited to your gala Mr. Wayne, I'm sorry Marinette had to show up and ruin it."</p><p>"If memory serves correctly, Ms. Rossi, you weren't on the guest list. Marinette, however, was." The class burst into whispers at this. The only person that had ever contradicted Lila before this was Marinette, and Lila had never mentioned seeing her.</p><p>"What do you mean Marinette was invited to your gala? Why would you invite <em>her</em> of all people? She's just a jealous nobody!"</p><p>Marinette stepped out from backstage with Dick, walking up to stand near Bruce as she surveyed her old class. Her cold gaze locked on Alya, actively ignoring the frantic questions being thrown her way as her old class tried to reign in their surprise. "Wow, Alya. Tell me how you really feel."</p><p>"M- Marinette? But, but you've been missing for <em>ages!</em> We thought you'd finally taken our advice and offed yourself."</p><p>Dick growled, shifting slightly as he made to move towards her, Mari grabbing his arm to prevent him from going after Alya. It was too early for that. "While you did your best to drag me down, you never managed to drag me down quite so far. I had outside sources of support that you were never privy to. Like my boyfriend here, for instance."</p><p>Alya went to retort, but fell silent as Bruce raised a hand, regaining control of the room as the rest of the Waynes filed out from backstage, the lawyers lurking in the shadows. "That's quite enough. We're not here for you to verbally assault Marinette. We're here to address the charges against you." There was a brief moment of silence before the class exploded into sound, Lila paling drastically at the announcement. It took a moment for them to calm enough for Bruce to continue, completely ignoring all of their protests and demands for explanation as he waited for them to silence themselves. The rest of the Wayne family was unimpressed, many of them shooting sympathetic looks to Marinette for having to deal with them for so long. "Your protests are invalid. We have more than enough evidence to file civil suits against many of you for physical assault, slander, defamation, and property damage. We will be taking action against you on behalf of Marinette, the person you victimized."</p><p>"What proof? We never did anything wrong, all we did was give a bully a taste of her own medicine."</p><p>"I'm fairly sure that nobody should ever be shoved down a flight of stairs for any reason other than self-defense. And there's no excuse for purposefully and maliciously destroying someone's private property. You're just lucky that Mari never bothered to fight back or you'd have been ruined <em>way</em> before now."</p><p>"Mari let you idiots get away with more than she should've. If she'd told us sooner, this would've happened sooner. If you didn't mysteriously disappear, that is. I've got it on good authority that our vigilantes have a soft spot for her. Red Hood's been itching to test out his new guns."</p><p>"Jason! What've I told you about threatening people?"</p><p>"...To not do it?"</p><p>"No, Jason. We only threaten people when there are no witnesses." Tim said this like it was obvious, causing many of the students to give him strange looks.</p><p>"Calm down little wing, baby bird. With us here there's no way they're getting out of the consequences involved with hurting Mari." He tugged Mari into his side, placing a quick kiss on her forehead before glaring at the class. While she couldn't see the glare, it must've been pretty deadly based on the way the entire class shivered. She was kind of impressed.</p><p>"And who are you people, exactly?" Understandable question considering they all did everything they could to stay out of the media. Bruce made sure that none of the Gotham news outlets released photos of the Waynes or their associates without express permission, which was rarely given.</p><p>"I'm Dick Grayson-Wayne, Bruce's oldest adopted son. This is Jason Todd-Wayne, my younger brother. That's Tim Drake, though he's soon to be a Wayne as well."</p><p>"Wait, if you're a Wayne, then there's no way this is real. No way is Marinette good enough to bag a Wayne." All three Wayne boys glared at Alya for that, effectively silencing her for the time being.</p><p>"Marinette is more than good enough to be associated with our family. We owe you no explanations. All you need to know is that we know what you did to her, and you're not getting away with it any longer." The lawyers finally came forward, approaching all those involved in harming Mari in one way or another and handing them packets that listed the charges against them. There were noises of outrage from some of those more firmly under Lila's thumb that had done more damage than the others, though there were a few students that were spared the full wrath of the Waynes. The only ones that didn't get a visit from the lawyers were Nathaniel and Max, who had found out for themselves that Lila was a liar but were unable to help Mari for fear of becoming a target.</p><p>All protests and noises of outrage were ignored as they exited the auditorium, leaving the lawyers to deal with things as they headed to the penthouse. Mari still wasn't sure when they'd bought it. They spent the rest of the day relaxing as they enjoyed their time together, one less thing to worry about with the lawyers after Mari's ex-classmates. They played some card games and board games, managing to drag Bruce into a couple rounds. They eventually had to quit because Marinette was too lucky, and there was little chance of them winning if she was playing. She made sure to kick their asses in Ultimate Mecha Strike for good measure.</p><p>They still had a few things to take care of over the remainder of their stay in Paris, foremost of which being Mari's parents, who had been less than supportive throughout the whole Lila thing. They had never been very happy with Mari after discovering her in the circus, but their complete lack of support when Mari was dealing with her classmates had been particularly appalling. At first, Mari had told them about the situation in hopes that they would be supportive, but they had been the opposite. Even when they knew for a fact that what Mari's classmates said about her was false, they would often punish her for it. It didn't help that she'd snuck out for a week to observe how Dick's team interacted with him when he was investigating Haly's Circus. When they came across the video of her performance, they had been very unhappy with her, and she'd lost even more of their support.</p><p>Dick knew about it, of course. She'd come clean and told him about everything she'd been hiding from him, and he'd been less than pleased that they refused to support her. Both of them were also still bitter about how her parents had so cruelly and suddenly separated the two of them, resulting in their separation issues. They hadn't even known that they'd developed separation issues until they'd been reunited, which was a bit strange. The rest of the family had to be careful when they wanted one of them for something without the other, otherwise the sudden disappearance would cause the other to panic. It had happened a few times before they finally realized they had a problem. They probably should've seen someone about it, but the way they'd grown up had made them averse to such things. Instead, Marinette just made a way for them to always know where the other was and how they were doing. All it had required was a few tweaks to their bracelets.</p><p>Their separation issues were the main reason they were all wary about confronting her parents. While she hadn't seen them in a long while, it was possible that they would attempt to separate the two of them again, which wouldn't end well for anyone involved. There was little doubt that they would try something, especially when they realized Dick was her partner in the circus, the same person they had ripped her away from. She could only hope that the confrontation wouldn't be as awful as the last time her parents had seen her and Dick together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When it was finally time for them to confront her parents, she was nervous. Dick was nervous too if the way he made sure to keep physical contact with her was any indication, not that she was much better. The rest of the boys seemed a bit on edge as well, all of them remembering he story of how Mari had been separated from Dick in the first place.</p><p>It had been really difficult to determine a good time to confront them, as her parents were constantly busy with the bakery, and when they weren’t they didn’t tend to leave the house. The main problem with this was that they wanted to have the confrontation on neutral ground, and they wanted to make sure they wouldn’t just try to drag Mari off when they saw her, which would be pitifully easy if the confrontation was held in their own house. Getting them out of their apartment had proven to be a bit more tricky than initially anticipated, but they <em>did</em> manage it in the end.</p><p>It was arranged for Mari's parents to meet up with them in a secluded conference room in their apartment building, supposedly to talk about a potential catering job. Her parents had to close up the bakery for the day, as they didn't have any employees to keep it open while they were out. As the two were very punctual, they arrived in the specified meeting place right on time. Neither of them were expecting to walk through the door only to find Marinette, who had been missing for quite a while, sitting casually at the conference table. Surrounded by various boys, only one of which seemed familiar, though they couldn't place him.</p><p>Bruce prompted them to sit, and in their shock at seeing Marinette after so long they obliged easily, not putting up a fight as they waited either for an explanation or for the shock to wear off. They were granted no time to recover, all the birds glaring at the two while Bruce had a bland smile on his face that was fake as they come. "You must be the Dupain-Chengs. We've heard a lot about you, though not much of it has been good, which is quite unfortunate for you. I take it you recognize your lovely daughter over here?" He gestured to Marinette, who was clutching Dick's hand underneath the table and avoiding looking directly at the two bakers.</p><p>Her parents gave small, confused nods. They thought for a bit before their faces settled into mild annoyance as they narrowed their eyes at Marinette. "Has she been bothering you fine gentlemen? We're so sorry for her poor behavior, we've been trying to fix it."</p><p>That didn't sit well with any of the vigilantes in the room, though Dick was the one to speak up. "Really? That's the first thing you assume? That she's in trouble? Not even going to bother asking where she's been all this time? Did you even notice she was missing in the first place?"</p><p>They seemed offended. "We haven't seen her since she was granted legal emancipation. If she's been missing we've not heard of it. All she's done since that poor Italian girl joined her class is act out, and it has caused us nothing but trouble. Who are you to judge us for that young man?"</p><p>Dick's glare intensified at their words. "What, you don't remember me? Not even from when you- !" He was cut off by Bruce, who waved a hand in front of him to prevent him from getting up. The chances of him actually attacking the two were rather slim, but it could still happen if he thought Mari was being threatened.</p><p>"Dick, that's enough."</p><p>Her parents stared at him blankly as they attempted to think of where they could've seen him before. "Remember you? I don't recall ever meeting... wait." Realization settled over both their faces, along with a bit of anger, though that was directed at Marinette. "You, you're the boy from the circus! The carnie Marinette was hanging off of when we retrieved her! Marinette, haven't we told you that you were to leave that part of your past behind? We agreed that you would never mention it or get in contact with any of those <em>degenerates</em> when we found you!"</p><p>Mari straightened up and finally glanced at them, still squeezing Dick's hand for support. <em>"We</em> didn't agree on <em>anything.</em> If I recall correctly, <em>you</em> were the ones that agreed I wouldn't do those things, not that it worked out very well for you. Didn't manage to stop me from paying my old colleagues a visit when they were in town, did it?" Their faces grew red at the reminder. For weeks customers would come in and gush about Cardinal's performance, and Marinette's classmates would come in and gush even after that. Adrien had been looking into Cardinal obsessively, and everyone around him was subjected to videos and theories, which her parents <em>really</em> hadn't been happy about.</p><p>They didn't get a chance to respond before Bruce jumped in, looking to end the confrontation as soon as possible. It was clear that Marinette was uncomfortable and the boys were feeling homicidal. He'd prefer to avoid an international incident if possible. "There's nothing you can do about it, so it would be best for the two of you to remain silent. Let's get on to the reason we summoned you here. We want to make sure you won't bother Marinette ever again. That includes spreading rumors about her, trying to contact her, and attempting to see her in person. We've filed a restraining order against the both of you for her, and once the judge signs off on it you can't be within 50 feet of her. If you violate our terms we'll sue. Our lawyers will give you all the details."</p><p>"A restraining order? From our own daughter?" They seemed appalled, but there was nothing they could do about it, and as the small army of personal lawyers employed by the Waynes entered the room to lead them out, they began to realize that.</p><p>"Yes. You have made her feel unsafe, and with how you suddenly ripped her away from the life she had established when traveling with her grandmother, the judge is more than likely to grant it. If you'll please follow our lawyers, they'll explain everything in detail." His tone left no room for argument, and the stunned couple were soon led out of the room, and out of Marinette's life. The likelihood that they would ever see her again was extremely low, and the Waynes wouldn't have it any other way.</p><p>Mari slumped against Dick as her parents finally left her field of view, relieved to be rid of them. Dick wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he guided her to stand with the rest of the family. They headed back to the Wayne's penthouse after that, doing all manner of things to distract Marinette from the confrontation. They watched movies and played games, even though they knew the odds were always in Marinette's favor, and at the end of the night, Mari went back to her apartment with Dick. They cuddled together in bed, taking comfort in each other's presence and the knowledge that those who had ripped them apart would be unable to do so again. A weight had been lifted off their shoulders, though they still had their separation issues.</p><p>All of them were back on the jet to Gotham a few days later, ready to head home and beat up some bad guys. There hadn't been any major incidents that they knew about, which had been nice, as they'd gotten a bit of a vacation. Mari and Dick would be staying in Gotham for a little while, as Mari had some plans to do with Tim's parents. Or, more specifically, plans to take guardianship of Tim away from them. After that it would be a race to see who could adopt the kid first: Marinette or Bruce. Both of them had the paperwork ready to go, and Tim would be given the name of a Wayne regardless, but only one of them could be the official parent. The thought of an adoption war was harrowing for the rest of those residing in the manor, but they didn't get a choice in the matter.</p><p>If Marinette won, Tim would be joining her and Dick in Bludhaven, and if Bruce won he'd be staying in Gotham. Though either way he'd likely end up spending the majority of his time in Bludhaven. He liked Marinette more than he liked Bruce, and he could still be Robin regardless. Jason would be jealous, but he already spent a rather absurd amount of time in Mari and Dick's apartment. He would just show up randomly, as would Tim. It was kind of strange at first, but the young couple had gotten used to surprise visits. When you have friends that moonlight as heroes, you tend to get used to surprises. Marinette especially tended to be extremely difficult to surprise due to her time dealing with Hawkmoth's weird as fuck akumas.</p><p>There may or may not have been an ongoing bet over who would be able to get the biggest reaction out of Mari with a surprise. And said potential bet may or may not have spread to a good portion of their friend group. They were trying to keep it a secret because they didn't want Mari to find out and rig it with Dick, who was semi-aware of the bet. Little did they know that Mari already knew, Alfred had told her for the express purpose of having her rig it. She was already coming up with ideas of when and how to make sure Alfred won the bet. He'd promised to grant her some of the earnings.</p><p>Bets aside, Mari was looking forward to the chaos the adoption war would bring, as well as her plans to steal guardianship from Tim's parents. She would literally fight Bruce for custody if it came down to it. He wouldn't stand a chance when faced with her magic. Either way she was just happy that Tim wouldn't have to stay with neglectful absentee parents anymore. They probably hadn't even noticed that he'd run off to Paris with them. As someone who had grown up with negligent parents, Mari wanted to make sure Tim had someone to be there for him, and while she was already there for him whenever he needed, she didn't want him to have to keep returning to an empty house. Dick was in agreement with her, and would side with her when the time came. She knew that Tim would be happy whatever the result, and so would she, but Mari was notoriously competitive.</p><p>Her plans wouldn't be enacted for a few days after they returned to Gotham, so there was still time. She just had to hope that nothing too terrible would happen before then. Fat chance of that considering it was <em>Gotham</em> they were talking about, but she could hope. Even if something did go down, with the bats on the case it was likely to be short-lived. That was the hope, anyways. Mari had a feeling that something unexpected would happen. She just hoped whatever happened wouldn't cause too much damage. Or drama, for that matter. She'd had enough drama to last her a lifetime, and a good portion of that was due to her involvement with the bats. How one family could generate so much drama, she had no idea. There were theories about it, but honestly they'd probably just learned how to be overly-dramatic from Bruce. For all his claims to the contrary, he was probably the most dramatic one of them all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, so this might've been a bit late, but in my defense my mom brought home a kitten and I couldn't just <em>not</em> gush over it. Chapter may be a bit shorter than normal due to sudden presence of new cat, but that's a sacrifice I was willing to make.</p><p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Mari did when they arrived back at the manor was drag Dick up to their shared room and tug him onto the bed. She was exhausted from the flight and slept best when Dick was near her, so he would be laying with her whether he was tired or not. There was an added bonus of no interruptions when they were alone in a bedroom, as the boys didn’t want to risk walking in on them doing ‘gross couple-y things.’ They claimed this, but none of them have ever walked in on the two of them doing anything more than cuddling or making out. Of course, that was partly due to the wards Mari had placed on the room that alerted the two of them to visitors, but it was nice that people were reluctant to enter their shared room.</p><p>Mari settled into bed with a similarly exhausted Dick, which was great because it meant he wouldn't be leaving before she woke up later. They would have to be up and about the next day, so they really needed the sleep. Sleeping was always so much easier when they did it together. Had been ever since they reunited, which was probably in part due to how frequently they slept together when they were still in the circus. Their separation had led to somewhat unhealthy sleeping habits, so it was nice for them to be able to fall back into a healthy, habitual sleeping habit together.</p><p>They drifted off to sleep not long after settling into bed, and woke early the next day. Mari had a few things to prepare for when she stole guardianship of Tim and Dick would be helping out at Wayne Enterprises while he was in Gotham. There were a few things they would need to look over before they went on patrol that night as well, though it was nothing pressing. Things had been fairly quiet during the week they were gone, which was a tad unusual, but they were sure the Rogues would soon make up for it.</p><p>That night they got word that the Joker had escaped Arkham.</p><p>Nothing good could come of it, especially after what had happened with Jason, but there was nothing they could do until they found the rotten clown. Odds were good that he'd either target a prominent member of society or a bat, possibly even both. This meant that all of them were in some level of danger, which wasn't good. Mari was just glad she was able to monitor all of their vitals, like she had been with Dick and Jason for years. It had been a bit difficult to get Bruce to wear something magical, but he'd eventually relented under the threat of Alfred tricking him into it. The others had easily consented to wearing a magic bracelet that linked back to Mari's own. After what happened with Jason, it was clear that it would be a good thing to have on them.</p><p>They went about with things as usual. It wouldn't do to panic anyone and there <em>was</em> work to be done. A couple days after their return Mari went to an appointment with the Drakes and politely asked them to transfer guardianship of Tim to her. They hadn't taken too kindly to that, but after some persuasion (blackmail), they'd agreed. The Drakes transferred guardianship straight to Marinette, so Bruce never stood a chance of beating her to the punch. Tim was still given the name Wayne, as Mari was an honorary one until they made it official someday. Whether she became an official part of the family through marriage or adoption was anyone's guess, but she'd prefer it to be marriage. She'd wager Dick would prefer it that way as well.</p><p>Either way, she would eventually be a Wayne. And now she had successfully managed to pull Tim out of his neglectful household, which she'd been itching to do for a long while. The kid already had a room in her and Dick's apartment, so this was just making him an official member of the family. When she walked into the manor later that day with proof of guardianship, she'd been a little smug. Tim had lit up and tackled her into a hug which she returned enthusiastically, watching with idle amusement as money changed hands near them. Of course bets had been placed on who would get Tim first. She'd be more surprised if there <em>hadn't</em> been a bet. Bruce had frowned at the papers she'd come in with, though he'd made nice and congratulated her. Mari had a feeling he'd be busy with a new kid of his own soon anyways, not that she'd ever tell him that. It was far more amusing to watch him flounder.</p><p>Everything was going well until the night before they were due to head back to Bludhaven. Tim had been patrolling with Bruce, who had left him alone for a moment to check things out, and had ended up being captured by the Joker. Mari had known something was wrong immediately, almost falling off a rooftop as she suddenly whipped her head around in the direction she knew Tim was supposed to be. Dick stopped beside her, concerned, but she just waved him off. She pushed up her sleeve so she could see her bracelet just as the coffee bean charm she'd chosen to represent Tim started glowing. Dick muttered a curse under his breath before motioning for her to lead the way, and moments later she took off. She and Dick flew through the air efficiently, anger vaguely visible on their faces as they made their way towards Tim.</p><p>The got there just before Joker could take off with him. It was clear that Tim was unconscious, just as it was clear Joker hadn't been expecting any of the batclan to be interrupting his kidnapping attempt. Like <em>hell</em> Mari would ever let him get away with it. She'd been itching to pummel the clown ever since she'd saved Jason, and his attempt to kidnap her ward was not appreciated. Before the clown could even get a word out he'd been kicked in the face and sent flying into the alley wall. Harley tried to intervene but was quickly engaged by Dick, leaving Mari to deal with the rotten jester. He'd barely gotten up before he was knocked back down by a vicious blow to the ribs, Mari making sure to keep him occupied enough that he wouldn't be able to attempt to get a rise out of her.</p><p>She made sure to make it seem as though she wasn't prolonging the fight until Dick had successfully subdued Harley, at which point Mari finally knocked him out. He'd sustained quite a few injuries and possibly a few broken bones, but it was nowhere close to what Jason had been subjected to. As soon as she heard the police sirens she grabbed the still unconscious Tim and transported the both of them back to the Batcave, having been reassured by Dick that he would deal with the cops while she took care of Tim.</p><p>When she appeared in the middle of the cave, having emerged from the shadows, she was met with Alfred who took a moment to assess the situation before leading her into the infirmary. Alfred took care of Tim's few injuries while Mari went through her potion stash, eventually grabbing a couple potions that she later carefully poured down his throat. One potion was a cleansing potion, meant to remove all foreign substances from the body, including caffeine which Tim probably wouldn't be too happy about. The other was a healing potion, and only when his bruises started healing and his breathing leveled out did she allow herself to relax. She slumped into a chair by his bedside and carefully held one of his hands as she waited for Dick to return.</p><p>He didn't make her wait long, practically flying into the cave on his motorcycle minutes later. He made a beeline towards her, taking note of the healthy tones in Tim's skin before turning his full attention to Mari. Dick picked her up out of her chair, prompting her to wrap her legs around his waist and one arm around his neck. The other hand was still holding Tim's for reassurance. Mari buried her face into Dick's neck as he began to rub soothing circles into her back, murmuring words of comfort as she collected herself.</p><p>"Joker?"</p><p>Dick stilled in his motions for a split second before resuming, doing his best to reassure her. "On his way back to a maximum security cell in Arkham. One with 24-hour surveillance. He won't be getting back out for a long time."</p><p>"Sorry I left you to deal with the police alone."</p><p>A soft smile spread across his face as he hugged her tighter. "It's alright sweetheart. I know you had to take care of your little chick."</p><p>"Joke's on you. He's <em>our</em> chick." It said so on the guardianship papers.</p><p>"Of course, Mari. He's ours. I wouldn't have it any other way."</p><p>"That's what I thought." They fell into a comfortable silence after that, Dick sitting down in the chair he'd stolen Mari, making sure she was situated comfortably in his lap. As long as Tim was unconscious they would be there by his side, waiting for him to wake up. The only time they left was so that Dick could go berate Bruce for leaving him on his own. Jason had wanted to fight with Bruce, but one glance at Marinette had changed his mind, and he instead kept her company as she watched over Tim. She knew that Jason cared about Tim, no matter how much he protested to the contrary.</p><p>Tim woke a few hours later, and Mari was right there to make sure he was okay. He was a bit shaken at having almost been abducted so easily, but Mari's presence helped keep him calm. When they were absolutely sure that he was okay they headed back to Bludhaven, Kaalki opening a portal without a word. Dick and Mari made sure Tim was settled into his room before slipping off to their own, where they climbed into the bed and just held each other. The thought of one of their own being kidnapped had triggered their separation issues a bit, and they were both having a bit of a difficult time dealing with it. They felt better being in one another's presence, though they didn't manage to sleep for hours after that, still worried over their young ward.</p><p>Marinette would have to make sure to help smooth things over between Dick and Bruce, especially if her instinct was right in saying they would soon have another addition to the family. Since she had ignored her nightmares over her and Dick's separation she had never doubted her instincts again. Master Fu had told her it was a side effect of being a true Guardian of the Miraculous, and he'd helped her cope with it, but it would still bug her. She was just glad that the sense she was getting now wasn't overly negative. It had the potential to turn out badly, but as long as Mari was there to anchor everyone and calm raging tempers things would be fine. Until then she would focus on helping Tim readjust to constantly being around people that actually cared about him.</p><p>It might take a while, but she was determined to make sure Tim felt like a member of the family. She knew that Bruce hadn't always made him feel included, and Jason hadn't helped with that, but Mari would make sure he knew he was a valued part of the family. She'd been itching to be able to teach one of the boys how to bake, and she had a feeling Tim wouldn't be as averse to learning a few tricks with magic as Jason was. She was looking forward to being able to build up their family ties, and she knew Tim was probably feeling much the same.</p><p>There may end up being some bumps in the road, but there was no way Mari would ever let Tim feel like he was alone. She'd felt alone for years before finally taking out Hawkmoth and accidentally ending up bleeding out in Gotham, and she wouldn't wish it on anyone. You didn't need to be blood related to be part of the family, and Mari would make sure Tim knew that. They were legally family now, after all. Blood families were overrated anyways.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Despite the unknowing sabotage committed upon me by my family via our new kitten, I have managed to finish the new chapter on time. Not much time to edit though, so there might've been some mistakes.</p><p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dick loved Marinette, and he'd freely admit it to anyone who asked, but he wished she would warn him when she knew crazy things were about to happen. He could kind of tell that something was going to occur based on Mari's anticipation of something, and she hadn't gloated over her beating Bruce in the race to adopt Tim <em>nearly</em> as much as she normally would have. This was his first and only clue to the chaos that would soon be upon them.</p><p>He'd been busy helping Mari make sure Tim was settling in, and he was involved in a few cases that were keeping him quite busy as well, so he never had time to question her. Every single time he went to ask her about what she'd sensed would come to pass, he would suddenly get dragged into dealing with something else. Every time. It got old pretty quickly, and by the time he was finally free enough to ask her about it, it was too late. The chaos was upon them.</p><p>It had started on one of their routine trips to Gotham. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary at first, at least, not that Dick could see. What Mari saw, however, though he didn't know it at the time, was the sudden presence of various assassins. All of them were straight from the League of Assassins, and while none of the bats had picked up on their presence <em>including</em> Dick, Mari had. Why she didn't tell anyone about it, he would never know. She often did things that nobody could understand in the moment, but she always proved to have a reason behind it later on. He'd noticed that she seemed a bit distracted, but she didn't give anything away when he asked about it so he'd figured she would either tell him eventually or it was nothing.</p><p>She sure proved him wrong.</p><p>After they'd returned from their trip she'd informed him that she'd acquired a brand new client, one that she would need to go meet in person. Similar things had happened before, so he wasn't overly worried. She'd prepared for everything as though she was really just going on a normal business trip, so there was no reason for him to be suspicious. He only figured out something was off about the situation when she portalled back to the apartment a few days later with a small child. What had happened for her to go out of her way to get a child he had no idea, and she told him that she didn't want to have to explain more than once, so he would have to wait until they went back to Gotham. They hadn't been planning on returning to Gotham for another few days, but with this new development it was unanimously decided that they would bump up the trip for that night instead. And he'd thought Bruce was the only one with an adoption problem.</p>
<hr/><p>To be fair, Marinette hadn't been sure her trip to the League of Assassins would actually turn out as it had. She had noticed the increased presence of their assassins scattered throughout Gotham, and knew that there had to have been <em>some</em> reason for it. She hadn't wanted to worry Dick so she'd decided she would investigate by herself, and had arranged for a business trip to make it seem like nothing was going on. She'd been meaning to invade the League anyway, as there was no way she could allow for the Lazarus Pits to continue existing now that she was the Guardian. If she found some sort of plot against the Gotham vigilantes while she was there... well. It's not like anyone would be able to stop her.</p><p>She had only a vague sense of what could potentially be going on, and as such was almost blindsided by the sight of a small, angry version of Bruce. In the middle of the League. Being referred to as the Heir to the Demon. Yeah, there was no way Mari was going to let that fly, and if the assassins wanted to stop her they were welcome to try. With her proficiency in magic and the assistance of the various Kwami it was simple for her to bust in, destroy the pits, snag the kid, and bust out. All without being noticed or leaving a trace.</p><p>Walking into the living room of their apartment with a struggling, homicidal toddler wasn't something she ever would've thought she'd end up doing, but it happened. And it had been pretty awkward, to say the least. At least it was a quick trip to Gotham, and the boys knew better than to ask questions when it was clear she wasn't going to answer them. The sight of the three of them and the toddler didn't even phase Alfred, but she had yet to come across anything that actually did. Their appearance <em>did</em> shock Bruce and Jason, however, though only Bruce was able to keep his surprise from showing on his face.</p><p>Jason was the first one to speak up, pointing at the struggling toddler in Mari's arms. "...Is that a child?"</p><p>"Yeah." She said it casually, walking past them on her way to a seat.</p><p>"...Is it <em>yours?"</em></p><p>"Nope," Mari popped the 'p' as she plopped down at the conference table, the others slowly taking their seats around her and watching warily as she expertly restrained the child. "He's Bruce's!" They all froze at that, even Alfred though only for a millisecond.</p><p>"What." This was the general reaction, though Bruce seemed to be frozen in his shock.</p><p>She turned to Bruce, propping up the child so he could get a better look. "You have a biological child you never knew about with Talia al Ghul that was being raised in the League of Assassins! Isn't he adorable?"</p><p>"...I would say murderous is probably a better descriptor." Tim muttered it under his breath, but they all heard him clear as day in the silence of the cave.</p><p>"How did you even find out about this?"</p><p>"Part of my duty as Guardian meant that I was supposed to destroy the Lazarus Pits. I kept forgetting until I noticed the increase in assassins lingering about the city on our last trip to Gotham, and I decided now was as good a time as any to go take care of it. I noticed this little guy on my way through their compound, thought it was odd 'cause he looked a lot like Bruce and Talia seemed super smug. That's her default though so maybe it wasn't <em>that</em> suspicious..." she trailed off for a minute, clearly lost in thought before snapping out of it. "Anyway! I heard Talia gloat about him being the son of the bat, and if that wasn't a dead giveaway I don't know what is. Snagging him on my way out of their base was trivial, and then we came here as soon as I got back."</p><p>"..."</p><p>"So? Do you want to take care of him or should I?"</p><p>"Mari you can't just keep snatching children out from under Bruce's nose. If you do we might end up with a hoard of children to rival his own. He made the kid he can take care of him. You'll still be able to help, but as we're still pretty young it's probably for the best. Here he'll have Alfred to watch over him."</p><p>"You make some good points. Congratulations on your new child Bat-Wayne. We'll stick around to help you out for a while as you process this." Mari then stood from the table and walked out with the child and Alfred, heading off to prepare a room for the kid, who she'd somehow managed to coax into a slumber. Dick scrambled to follow as Tim and Jason moved off to a different part of the cave to talk about the situation and laugh at Bruce, who was still frozen.</p><p>Settling the kid in was pretty easy. Easier than she'd expected anyway, not that she was complaining. The only problem was that he spoke more Arabic than English, so they often had to make use of a translator as they helped him acclimate to using English more often. He also had a pretty bad temper and seemed to be extremely entitled, which made Mari glad that he was going to be Bruce's problem. Maybe having his own flesh and blood child around would help him gain some parenting skills. All of them could agree that it was hilarious to watch Bruce flounder as he tried to get acquainted with the kid, who they found out was named Damian, and when the two had matching scowls they'd just about died laughing, which they hadn't seemed to appreciate for some reason.</p><p>Jason had turned out to be a decent brother-figure, which had been a bit surprising to everyone but Mari and Alfred. They were working towards curbing his more violent tendencies, as the kid had tried to murder Tim and Jason a few times. He'd attempted it with Mari once, but when she'd caught him before he could even manage to attack she'd gained his respect. Tim tended to avoid him so he wouldn't have to deal with more assassination attempts, but all in all, things were pretty peaceful. They all knew it wouldn't last. Talia would come looking for her son eventually, and there was no way of knowing the lengths she'd go to in order to get her baby assassin back. It would be interesting to see how Bruce tried to manage <em>that</em> situation.</p><p>Their intel indicated that the assassins were already gearing up to find Damian, though they wouldn't check with the bats for a good while, which gave them time to prepare. As far as Talia knew Bruce had no idea about Damian, and none of the other bats would have reason to visit their compound and find out. Mari herself had never had the displeasure of actually meeting any of the assassins, and while they likely knew of her identity due to her being Nightwing's partner Ladybird, they had yet to come size her up. She couldn't say for certain where they would look first, but the chances of it being Gotham were extremely low. They were careful to keep Damian out of the spotlight to avoid catching the League's attention and the kid was too young to join them on patrols. While there <em>were</em> a few assassins scattered about the city, none of them were ever able to catch sight of the kid, even when he went out in broad daylight.</p><p>Mari may have had a hand in concealing the kid, but she didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of arrogant assassins, none of the bats had complained, and Alfred had commended her for it so... she felt it was justified. When the assassins finally arrived there was little doubt that Damian wouldn't want to leave with them, though the chances of them getting so close to him with Mari around were extremely slim. The assassins may have knowledge of magic, but with their leader only alive due to the results of a wish cast with the combined power of the ladybug and the cat they wouldn't be able to do anything about Marinette. Not unless they wanted to get cursed by some angry Kwami, that is.</p><p>She bet Plagg and Tikki would just <em>love</em> to meet someone who'd been benefitting from the Lazarus Pits.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Talia had caved a lot faster than Marinette had initially anticipated. Bruce received a message from her less than two months after Mari had retrieved Damian from the League's compound, long enough for the kid to have become sufficiently accustomed to being with them. Her message hadn't explained more than the fact that she needed his help finding something, as well as containing coordinates, a date, and a time for him to meet up with her. The location was in Gotham, which would make things easier for them in the long run, but if Talia really <em>was</em> coming out of the woodwork there was a decent chance she'd find out about Damian being with the bats, not that there was anything she could do about it.</p><p>With Talia's thoughtful warning of her impending arrival all they could do was prepare for the inevitable. Dick got some time off work for a family emergency as Mari put her commissions on hold for a while, and before long the small family of three was resettled into Wayne Manor. They got to watch as Bruce tried his best to deal with a dangerous four year old, Jason on the sidelines with popcorn that he gleefully shared with them as they joined in. The kid was insisting that the stray cat he found was now a member of the family no matter how much Bruce tried to say no. Bruce eventually caved, tuning out the snickers of the ones on the sidelines as Damian declared the cat to be named Alfred Pennyworth, or Alfred the cat. The look of mild shock on the butler's face at the scowling child's declaration was priceless.</p><p>Mari would bet just about anything that the kid was going to have the same adoption problem as Bruce, though it seemed like it would be focused on animals instead of on troubled children with dark hair and blue eyes. The others seemed to agree with her, if their jokes about him being a miniature, murderous version of Bruce was any indication. Jason would likely have the betting pool open by the end of the week.</p><p>As amusing as watching Bruce flounder in the face of a small stubborn child was, they <em>did</em> have other things to worry about, as Alfred was quick to remind them as he ushered them all down into the cave. They all gathered around the table as they thought about what they would do when Talia got there, Damian refusing to leave as he climbed up onto Mari's lap and stayed there. They shared a glance before collectively shrugging. It's not like the kid wouldn't find out about the situation eventually anyway.</p><p>Jason started them off. "So what's the plan B-man?"</p><p>Bruce appeared to be deep in thought, so Dick piped up in hopes of actually getting a response. "We can't let Talia take him back, obviously, but what are we going to do to send her packing?"</p><p>"I don't know." The bat looked mildly pained as he admitted this, a slight grimace on his face as he looked over his gathered family.</p><p>"What do you mean you <em>don't know?</em> Don't you have a ridiculous amount of contingency plans?"</p><p>"Without knowing all the resources at their disposal, there's no way for me to be certain of the correct course of action. We don't know the extent she's willing to go to retrieve Damian. Especially if she brings Ra's with her."</p><p>"Well it's a good thing you know <em>me</em> then!" Mari announced with a wide smile. All eyes turned to her in various states of confusion. "They pose little threat now that their precious Lazarus Pits have been destroyed, and Tikki and Plagg would just <em>love</em> to meet someone who benefitted from them. The Pits <em>were</em> a result of their magic, after all. Plus, as the Guardian of the Miraculous, there's little chance of those two getting past me. Even with all their knowledge of magic they can't go against me."</p><p>"And you didn't mention this before because...?"</p><p>"I like watching people flounder." She said it like it was obvious, which it probably should've been considering how she'd introduced Damian to the family.</p><p>Dick facepalmed, looking at Mari in exasperation. "Mari..."</p><p>She held up her hands defensively as she looked over at him. "What? It's not like I've ever claimed not to."</p><p>Dick just sighed, used to such things after having spent so much time with her. "I should've expected that."</p><p>"Yes, you really should have. But seriously. Everything will be fine, and if they try to go over our heads and somehow manage to snag the kids I'll let the Kwami loose. You better be okay with curses though. They've been itching to curse someone for quite a while over those Pits, and I'm not about to spoil their fun so... yeah. They are almost definitely going to be on the receiving end of at least one curse." Bruce gave her a <em>look,</em> obviously disapproving. Mari wasn't having it. "Don't look at me like that. Just because they like me doesn't mean I can stop them. Consider yourself lucky they aren't going to just outright kill him. Plagg is absolutely thinking about it, and Tikki will allow it. If you complain about the curses then they might move on to murder, and that'll be on you. It's not exactly <em>easy</em> keeping a bunch of miniature gods in check."</p><p>"They won't die from it?" Him and his no kill rule. What a killjoy.</p><p>"Most likely not."</p><p>"..."</p><p>"That's the best I could do. Don't push your luck." She continued to stare him down to make sure he wouldn't keep trying to argue, only looking away when he finally relented. "Well now that that's all settled, I have some pastries to bake. Who wants to help me out?" Tim and Jason's hands immediately shot into the air, along with Damian's. Mari smiled at the three of them before scooping Damian into her arms and standing up, motioning for the other two to follow. Dick would likely join them later on, but for now it would just be Mari and the kids. And Alfred. There was no way the kids would be able to be in the kitchen if Alfred wasn't around to help her supervise. There was a reason that most of the bats had been banned from so much as entering the main kitchen, Mari excluded of course.</p><p>She had fun teaching them how to make and frost cupcakes, Tim and Jason unsurprisingly attempting to sabotage each other as they decorated. Their cupcakes came out looking like a bit of a mess, but they were still edible which was all that mattered. At least Mari and Damian's cupcakes had turned out nicely. Dick had ended up joining them in the kitchen, though he didn't dare attempt to assist them, opting to take photos and videos instead. Mari decorated a few cupcakes specifically for him as thanks, all of them having a Nightwing theme in electric blue buttercream frosting. Growing up in a bakery had its perks, foremost of which being the ability to bribe people with sweets.</p><p>The cupcakes helped everyone take their minds off the impending assassin invasion, though they were still a bit worried. Mari and Tim had yet to have actually met the infamous assassins, and they couldn't say they were looking forward to it. Watching them get destroyed by a couple of angry Kwami was bound to be entertaining though, so that would hopefully make up for their unpleasant presence. Mari herself didn't plan on being overly involved magic-wise, but if things started to go south or they showed an interest in any of her boys, all bets would be off. While Marinette was widely considered to be one of the nicest people you could ever meet, she wasn't known to be very merciful. She also didn't tend to be very forgiving, which her old class had learned very clearly when she finally got sick of them.</p><p>The days leading up to Bruce's meeting with Talia seemed to pass by at a crawl, everyone tense from the ever-increasing presence of trained assassins in the city. Damian knew what was happening by that point, and he wasn't very happy about it. He was very clear in his preference of remaining with them, and Mari had been so happy about it that she'd gotten him a dog which he'd promptly named Titus. They'd warned the members of the JL that they would be taking care of some things, and a few of them were on standby just in case. After careful planning and tracking on Mari's part they also had the location of the various League bases around the city, which would prove beneficial in the long run. They'd also doubled down on security at Arkham for the time being. They didn't want to take any chances.</p><p>When the day of the meeting finally came, Bruce went alone. Babs was monitoring the encounter over comms, the others scattered about the city as they played like they were going on their normal patrol routes. Everything was going smoothly until a group of assassins popped out of nowhere while Mari was running across the rooftops with Dick. There was no warning before they attacked, and while there had been a rather large group of assassins, all of which seemed to be focused on Mari for some reason, they didn't stand a chance. Between the two of them they took out all of the assassins, reporting the incident before swiftly returning to the Batcave, where they awaited Bruce's return.</p><p>They didn't have long to wait before the Batmobile sped into the cave, Bruce swiftly exiting as he made his way towards them. Talia had attempted to seduce him, apparently. Bruce hadn't been too happy about that, which is when Talia tried to resort to blackmail by claiming she'd captured one of his partners. The problem with <em>that</em> was she'd claimed to have obtained Ladybird, who was safe and sound after beating up the assassins with Nightwing. That explained the sudden attack. They'd likely targeted her because she was noted to be close to all members of the batfam, and she was the newest member. They had no idea she'd been a vigilante for almost as long as Dick, which is where their plan fell apart. Talia had been upset when she got the report that the attack failed, which <em>finally</em> prompted her to tell Bruce what she wanted.</p><p>According to Babs, he'd shown no sign of shock and Talia couldn't provide proof of Damian's existence. Without any evidence, it was easy for Bruce to shut her down, telling her flat out that he didn't believe her. He'd left shortly after that, leaving an angry Talia behind. She would obviously try something else since her initial plans hadn't worked, but for the time being she had no reason to be suspicious. At least, that's what they thought before learning that Ra's was in town a few days later. They even had the <em>audacity</em> to try and kidnap Tim when he was out on patrol with Mari. Anybody with eyes could tell Marinette was absolutely pissed, and the batboys actually felt a little bad for the al Ghuls. Now that they'd gone after her ward, there was no way Mari would attempt to reign in the Kwami when the time came.</p><p>The League would need all the luck it could get if they wanted to escape Gotham minimally injured now that they'd gone and slighted the Guardian. Unfortunately for them, the goddess of luck was quite literally in Marinette's pocket, and she was all out of mercy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next on is in progress!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It didn't take long for the assassins to get sick of the bats constantly outmaneuvering them. There had been multiple kidnapping attempts, mainly focused on Mari, though the boys had been targeted a few times as well. Nobody was happy about it, and the tension between both sides was slowly escalating. Everyone knew that things were bound to come to a head sooner or later, it was just a matter of who would strike first and where. The bats were perfectly content to wait for Talia to get fed up and come to them, so it was up to the assassins to make a move before Mari got tired of waiting and just kicked them all out of the city.</p><p>Talia finally made her move during the day around two weeks after first arriving in Gotham, barging in with Ra's and their goons as they interrupted a family dinner. Dinner had actually been going pretty well for once, so none of the bats appreciated the intrusion. For highly trained assassins, they didn't seem to be very observant where the Wayne family was involved, as none of them noticed Damian's presence even though he was clearly visible from the point they'd busted in.</p><p>Ra's sauntered into the room casually, acting as if he owned the place. His gaze locked on Bruce, who was situated at the head of the table glaring at the intruders. "Ah, Mr. Wayne. What a pleasure to see you again, and with new additions to the family as well."</p><p>"Ra's."</p><p>Talia stepped closer to Bruce, obviously confident that he'd bend to her will now that they'd caught him and his family (supposedly) unaware. "Now, now, beloved. Just help me find our son and we'll be out of your hair."</p><p>"Tt." The sudden unexpected noise, however small, drew the attention of the entire room. Talia and Ra's seemed especially surprised to find Damian sitting calmly at the table between Marinette and Dick, all three sending harsh glares their way. If Marinette hadn't been subtly restraining him, Damian likely would've attacked them all with his silverware.</p><p>Talia turned her gaze on Bruce, eyes narrowing. "So you lied to me. I'm impressed, beloved. Especially considering there was no way for you to find out about him in the first place, much less snatch him out from beneath our noses."</p><p>"I had no idea he existed," Bruce admitted. "I'm not the one who brought him here."</p><p>This caught the attention of Ra's, who refocused his attention on the Wayne family patriarch. "Then who, pray tell, managed to infiltrate our base and steal away with the most closely guarded child in the compound?"</p><p>All the bats turned their eyes to Marinette, who lifted a hand in a small, unenthusiastic wave. "That would be me. You should really improve your security. It took me less than an hour to get in and out without being spotted."</p><p>"Ah, the newest addition to the clan. You must be the infamous Ladybird." Ra's made a hand gesture and suddenly no less than three swords were pointed at a calm and collected Marinette's throat. She didn't so much as flinch, casually moving the point of a blade away from her while she glared up at the assassins that <em>dared</em> threaten her.</p><p>"If you want to survive your trip to Gotham, you better get those out of my face." The assassins shared a glance and seemed to shrug off her warning, moving the swords closer to her. They weren't expecting it when all of their blades suddenly dissolved into ash one by one. All weapons the intruders took out were systematically turned to dust, though only Mari and the bats had any idea why. Those surrounding Marinette backed away, now believing that the threat was not idle. "Can't say I didn't warn you." Mari casually examined her fingernails as she leaned back in her chair, waiting for the Kwami to show themselves.</p><p>"Well would you look at that. These are the guys that benefitted from the Lazarus, Sugarcube!" All of the assassins whipped their heads around in search of the source of the voice, though they were unable to find it.</p><p>"I can see that Plagg. Mari told us they'd be here sooner or later." With this, the two Kwami appeared, floating in front of Marinette with stern expressions on their faces as they examined the assassins with distaste. "Like these <em>fools</em> could ever hope to beat <em>our</em> Guardian. Too bad she made us agree not to kill them."</p><p>Ra's paled upon recognizing the two beings before them, even more so at Tikki's words. He looked back and forth between the two Kwami and Marinette, who was now nonchalantly showing Damian something on her phone, Dick helping her explain it as they staunchly continued to ignore everything around them. "My apologies great Kwami of the Miracle Box. I had no idea the Guardian resided in Gotham or I would have taken care to warn them of our presence. <em>Who</em> is your Guardian, if I might ask?"</p><p>Plagg rolled his eyes. "It's obviously Marinette. You idiots clearly didn't do your research on her before barging in here like you owned the place."</p><p>"Now, would you care to explain your selfish usage and guarding of the Lazarus Pits when it was <em>clearly</em> explained to you that they were dangerous and were to be reported to the Order?" Tikki was mad, which would prove bad for the assassins. Mari really didn't want to be caught in the crossfire so she signaled the rest of the family to gather around her, and when they did, she transported all of them out of the room and into the cave, making sure to remind the two that they weren't allowed to kill them unless they crossed the line.</p><p>It didn't take long for them to hear screams, though they did their best to ignore it. Mari wasn't fazed in the slightest, so they tried to follow her lead and act like nothing was wrong. They didn't dare leave the Batcave until Tikki came down and reported that everyone involved had been sufficiently punished and the al Ghuls cursed. All that was left was for Marinette to give them one last threat, and then dump them all into a portal that would deposit them in their compound. If it took a while for the portal to actually spit them out, the bats would never know.</p><p>Marinette would be surprised if they dared to set foot in Gotham again. Then again, they <em>were</em> rather stubbornly persistent, so it was unlikely for them to keep away for too long. They'd probably try to plan around her, make sure she wasn't in the city when they wanted to interfere, not that it would matter. With Kaalki around she could be in Gotham in less than five minutes, no matter where in the world she was. Actually, she could probably return no matter where in the <em>universe</em> she was. She hadn't tested it herself, but Pegasus had been able to open a portal while they were in space during the Startrain incident, so it was likely possible.</p><p>With the assassins successfully driven away for the time being, life slowly went back to normal. She wouldn't be surprised if they ended up coming back eventually, what with their bat obsession and all. They wouldn't be able to get far with Mari as part of the family, so she wasn't worried. She was more focused on bonding with her family and teaching Tim everything he wanted to know that was actually safe for him to learn. Damian seemed rather fascinated by her magic as well, and he seemed like he'd be a good fit for Plagg, so she would likely end up training him as well someday. Come to think of it, most members of the family seemed like they would be good wielders. She knew Alfred had been a wielder once upon a time, so he would be able to help her train them if she decided it was worth it. It would be a good back-up plan, that's for sure.</p><p>With all the excitement that kept happening in Gotham while they were away, Mari and Dick had decided it would be best for them to just link their home to the manor for ease of travel. While useful for emergency situations, it was also a hindrance. Damian and Jason just <em>loved</em> to walk through the door whenever they wanted, often sending Bruce into a mild panic when he realized they were temporarily missing. Mari almost wished he'd get some more kids to eat up his time, but figured it was for the best he hadn't picked any up yet. The new ones would probably spend most of their time in her and Dick's apartment anyway. She was starting to think she should be paid for constantly babysitting.</p><p>Of course, her thinking about it seemed to jinx it. Bruce, serial adopter that he was, had a soft spot for children. After learning of Damian's existence it had gotten even worse, and a while after running the League out of town Mari began having a feeling that the family was going to get a new addition in the near future. There was always a small chance that it would be her and Dick that picked up a new kid, or Babs even, but the most likely culprit was definitely Bruce. She just hoped the new kid wouldn't be as murderous as Damian, though she doubted there was anyone <em>nearly</em> as murderous as that kid.</p><p>She resolved to ignore the bat drama that was sure to crop up soon. Her and Dick had an anniversary coming up, and after spending so much time with the family they wanted to get away and have some alone time for once. Even if they only got to go on a date or two before inevitably being recalled to the manor. There was also the ongoing bet of who could surprise Mari the most, which they were really thinking about cashing in on soon. A few of the bets involved no questions asked favors, which would be extremely useful. You never know when you need an alibi or partner-in-crime, after all.</p><p>Yeah, Mari was totally going to drag Dick into helping Alfred win that bet. They wouldn't even be able to accuse her of rigging it because they didn't know that she knew, which would make it even better. It would have to wait until <em>after</em> their hard-earned vacation, however. If they had to deal with all the bats again without getting a sufficient amount of alone time, she could almost guarantee Dick would stage a kidnapping and arrange for them to be off-grid so they would get some. The man could be pretty irritable when he wasn't able to get his fill of attention from Marinette, though she was the same way.</p><p>If anyone asked, they'd blame it on the separation issues.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! Next one is in the works!</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Surprisingly, her little vacation with Dick went by with minimal interruptions. Of course, when they returned and visited everyone in Wayne Manor they discovered it was because Bruce had somehow managed to acquire a brand new child, though the child was a girl this time. Damian seemed to take offense to the addition of a new family member so soon after he'd been brought to the family, but since the new child, Cass, had been receiving similar training to him, she was able to fend off his assassination attempts. At this rate Bruce was going to end up with an inordinate amount of children. Alfred seemed to enjoy it though, and he was their main caretaker, so she supposed they could hold off on throwing an intervention.</p><p>They had other things to deal with. Like making sure Alfred won the bet, for instance. She didn't know what exactly they were planning, but they were definitely planning. Dick could come up with plans that were almost as convoluted and unorthodox as she could, so there was no way for her to predict what they would do to surprise her. Or when, for that matter.</p><p>Which is how she found herself completely, genuinely surprised when Dick finally went through with his plan. He'd given no warning, no indication that the night was going to be anything other than normal, for which she had to give him props. He normally couldn't hide things from her to save his life. They'd been in the Watchtower with the rest of the bats and a few league members, as it was they were having a meeting to discuss some logistics. They were all in costume, and the meeting was incredibly boring. She'd barely registered when it had ended, only really coming back into focus when she noticed they were on one of the observation decks. Dick suddenly dropped down on one knee, and Mari couldn't conceal her surprise.</p><p>"Mari, I know we haven't officially been together for too long, but you’re <em>it</em> for me. Being separated from you for so long was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to endure.” He pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a beautiful silver engagement ring inside. “Will you marry me?”</p><p>She threw her arms around his neck, nodding enthusiastically in agreement. “Of course I will! Was it even a question?”</p><p>He thought about it for a second before shrugging. "Not really, but I figured this would be a nice surprise, what with everything going on." Mari rolled her eyes and bopped him on the nose before dragging him into a kiss. Once they were both sufficiently breathless they hurried to meet up with the rest of the bats to head back to the cave, though they held off announcing their new relationship status until they were all safely back in the cave. Multiple bets ended up being one and cashed in on that night, Alfred winning all of them. Mari didn't know why they even bothered to attempt to bet against Alfred when he always won. He was too omniscient to lose unless he decided he wanted to lose on purpose for one reason or another. Betting against Marinette was much the same, due to her crazy Kwami-given luck.</p><p>Nobody was surprised that the two of them would be getting married. Maybe a little surprised it was happening so soon after they'd become official, but not surprised that it was happening. It <em>did</em> mean that they would have an event to plan for, which they weren't really looking forward to. Marinette would be designing all of their outfits, of course. The wedding would be private, which was par for the course where the Waynes were concerned. The only people that would be allowed to the wedding would be close friends and family members, all members of the press would be strictly prohibited from entering.</p><p>Between wedding planning, working on her wedding dress, working on the outfits the Waynes would be wearing to the wedding, and being active vigilantes, time went by pretty quickly. They had little time to themselves in the months and days leading up to the actual event, but it would be worth it. Especially once the wedding was over and they were permitted to leave for their honeymoon, where they wouldn't dare be disturbed unless it was a life or death situation. If they were interrupted for anything less than that there was a <em>very</em> high possibility that Dick or Mari would end up maiming whoever was unfortunate enough to bug them.</p><p>If they got disturbed enough times there was a high possibility of Dick dragging the both of them to some location off-grid, and if he did there were no guarantees that the honeymoon would end on time. Seeing as Mari was considered to be a big part of the glue that held the family together, the threat of an extended honeymoon wasn't something the bats were willing to risk. There was already a pretty high chance that Bruce would pick up a new family member while they were away, and if he kept at it Jason might just end up killing him for it. Damian would help, Mari was sure.</p><p>There was no time to dwell on such things, however, as the wedding was fast approaching and before they knew it, it was upon them. They got through the ceremony and the reception without a hitch, though many were moved to tears by their vows and Dick had just about burst out crying when Mari had walked down the aisle with Bruce and Alfred. The remaining bats were all either bridesmaids or groomsmen, with the exception of Tim, who managed to win the position of man of honor. Mari hadn't expected them to battle it out for the right to be her person of honor, but it had happened. None of them had bothered to fight for a spot as Dick's best man though, which had amused her endlessly. Dick had ended up asking his best friend Wally to be his best man, though he did have Jason and Damian act as groomsmen.</p><p>As soon as they could get away with it they were off on their honeymoon trip, and Dick's threat had worked to effectively keep them from being interrupted. They had a lovely time, and while they almost wished it could be longer they knew that if they didn't return they would be hunted down. At least Bruce hadn't actually found any new children while they were away, though Damian had acquired a new dog. Bruce <em>had</em> gotten into some drama with Selina, but that was pretty standard so it wasn't anything to worry about. They were glad to find that there had been minimal fighting while they were gone, which was nice, and everyone was excited to see them when they got back, especially Tim who'd been staying in the manor while they were gone.</p><p>They'd had an amazing time, though they were excited to jump back into the swing of things and help out where they were needed. As they gathered in the cave for their first official patrol as a married couple, they looked around at their family. It was a large family, but everyone there had <em>chosen</em> to be there. Their family was a bit unorthodox, but they all fit together and made it work. It was likely to expand in the future, what with Bruce's adoption habits and Mari and Dick's newlywed status, but Mari was looking forward to it. As long as she was with Dick, she knew that everything would turn out for the better. They <em>were</em> two birds of a feather, after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry if this seemed a bit lackluster, but it's the best I could do. This fic is officially finished now, and I didn't really expect it to last so long if I'm being honest. I hope you enjoyed it!</p><p>I have some plans for a new timinette fic which I'll be working on, though I'm unsure when exactly It'll be out, so you can look forward to that. In the meantime I'll likely be posting outtakes for my other two multi-chapter fics.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30678398">Bluebirds and Cardinals</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selene_Eleganza/pseuds/Selene_Eleganza">Selene_Eleganza</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
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